Fix You
by gleekout88
Summary: Paige McCullers thought that certain people and things were gone from her past. But when she meets Emily Fields, some things are drug back out into the light.
1. Chapter 1

"Paige McCullers, 25, swimmer. Was going for the Olympics before her accident." Emily stops when she heard a scoff from the girl in the bed in front of her. "Hear something you disagree with?"

"I'm not just some chart! And it wasn't just some accident." Paige spoke with anger.

"I know you are not your chart. Talk to me. Tell me why it wasn't just some accident." Emily said.

"Have you ever heard of an Olympic training swimmer that just stops swimming in the middle of her laps and sinks to the bottom? Didn't think so." Paige said, looking out the hospital window.

"Then did you do that on purpose? Sink to the bottom?"Emily asked.

"If I wanted to kill myself, I'd do it in a way that wouldn't hurt my father's pool equipment. My body is physically tired. I've tried to tell him that. I'm not the same as I was in high school or college. I can't swim for hours anymore! But he doesn't listen." Paige gets quite for a few minutes, remembering what just happened at the pool. After a few minutes she explains, "I was having a panic attack before it happened. I thought I could swim through it, like I usually do. But this time my chest hurt with it, like worse than usual. The next thing I know, I'm being put in an ambulance, and then I'm talking to you. Why?" Paige asks.

"I am Emily Fields. Your father's company hired me to work with you. To get you back in the pool." Emily said.

"And what if that is not what I want?" Paige asked.

"That's between you and your father." Emily spoke.

"My father is who got me into this mess to begin with." Paige said.

"And how is that?" Emily asked.

"I'm not sure I can trust you enough to reveal that." Paige said, eyeing the girl.

"Your father hired me." Emily said.

"Exactly. Don't bite the hand that feeds." Paige said, pushing the button to lay her bed back. "I'm really tired, can we be done sharing?" She asked sarcastically.

"I will be right here when you wake up." Emily said. A few minutes later, Emily could tell that Paige was asleep. Her labored breathing finally settling down, even small breaths now.

She sat there watching the girl sleep, wondering how it must be to be Nick McCullers daughter. Sure Emily had heard stories of how tough he was on his trainees, but his own daughter. He had worked her so hard that she wound up in a hospital bed. Then Emily had to wonder why, if her dad would have hired her, didn't she trust Emily enough to talk to her about Nick. Why had she made the comment about not biting the hand that feeds. They would have three months to get to the bottom of it, and Emily intended to.

A beep from the monitor brought the girl out of her thoughts and drew her attention back to Paige. Emily had to admit that Paige was beautiful. She had the most beautiful brown eyes Emily had ever seen. Even in a hospital gown, she could see that Paige was in top form. Her defined arms peeking out of the sleeves of her gown. Emily's eyes traveled down to her leg that was sticking out of the blanket. Pulled up mid thigh, that was all Emily had to see to know that she had swimmers legs. It only made Emily want to see more of the girl.

Paige opened her eyes to what she thought was Emily checking her out. This made Paige smile softly and close her eyes again, thinking of the girl sitting in the chair in front of her, who was most definitely checking her out now. She could see the girls eyes roaming over her legs when she peeked again. This made Paige feel that their time together might not be too horrible.


	2. Chapter 2

"Paige, I'm going to release you to the care of Ms. Fields here." Doctor Carter said to her.

By request of my father?" Paige asked.

"Actually the hospital highly recommends her. Emily has been doing great work with athletes that come through here." Dr. Carter explains.

"If you want someone else I understand." Emily spoke to Paige.

"No, is fine. Whatever. When do I get to leave?" Paige asks.

"Sign these and you will be released to Emily." Carter says to Paige handing her papers.

"What do you mean to Emily?" Paige asked swinging her legs over the bed.

"You will need to be under the care of Emily for at least three weeks. She is to keep an eye on you. You are to stay with her during those weeks. By order of your father." Carter said.

"Bullshit! I'm twenty five, I don't need a baby sitter." Paige yelled.

"A twenty five year old swimmer that somehow ended up at the bottom of the pool?" Carter questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"That was a one time thing. I was just tired." Paige said.

"Then think of these three weeks as a vacation. Rest, McCullers." Carter said in finality, leaving the two girls alone.

"I'm not going to enjoy this." Paige said.

"I think you might. Now get changed, my place is a bit of a drive." Emily said, throwing Paige her duffel bag. "You're dad packed for you." After Paige changed, the girls left the hospital and made their way to the parking garage. Emily stops in front of an old mustang and digs around for her keys in her purse.

"Really?" Paige asks with a raised eyebrow.

"What? My father and I restored it." Emily said, smirking.

"Nice." Paige replied walking the length of the car, inspecting it. "Can I drive?"

"If you get through this week without complaining, then you may." Emily said after she was finished laughing at the girls request.

"Well then it looks like that won't be happening." Paige said, climbing in.

"Have a little faith Paige, this might be good for you." Emily said starting the car.

"I doubt it, and I lost faith a long time ago." Paige replied looking out the window.

"Then maybe I should restore that this week too." Emily said as she pulled out of the garage and headed toward the highway.

"Yea, good luck with that." Paige said. "Where are we going?"

"To my favorite place." Emily said. The two didn't talk during the one hour drive. The only noise was the sound of the music playing softly in the background. They arrived at a house that had Paige starring in awe.

"You live here?" Paige asked. Looking at the two story home.

"Yes. Ever since I started working and could afford it. It was actually littler than this. I restored the first part, and have added the second floor and a few rooms on the ground floor." Emily said. She was really proud of her home.

"It's great." Paige replied, wondering if Emily added the rooms for herself, or if she was with someone.

"Wait until you see the back view, my yard. Parker absolutely loved it when I first brought him here, now he won't stay out of it." Emily said.

And there it is Paige thought, she did live here with someone. For some reason this almost broke Paige's heart right in two. She was thinking so hard about it that she didn't realize that they had made their way into what Emily called her backyard. But it wasn't what Paige would call one. It was the beach.

"Parker! Come here and meet our new house guest." Emily yelled. This made Paige's eyes go wide and her body freeze. She really didn't want to see Emily with her boyfriend. "Paige relax, he loves everyone." Emily said with a wink. Paige didn't know what to think of this comment. Then she heard, rather than saw, a beagle puppy round the corner, knocking over the trash can that was sitting at the back door.

"Paige, this is Parker. My little man." Emily said. Picking up the squirming puppy. Paige felt relief wash over her body.

"Thank God." Paige said.

"Why is that?" Emily asked, giving the puppy kisses.

"I thought I was about to meet your boyfriend." Paige replied.

"Ah. Well there would be one problem with that." Emily said.

"And what is that? Too pretty to date?" Paige asked.

"No, not too pretty to date. Just too pretty to date boys. I'm gay Paige." Emily said, handing the puppy to Paige.

"Does my dad know that?" Paige asked, the puppy licking her face.

"Would that have made a difference?" Emily asked. She was proud that she was out, and she want going to change for her job, she liked it and was too good at it to change.

"To him. When I came out to him, he was very mean about it. Even after all these years, we still don't talk about it. He acts like I never told him." Paige says sadly, making over the puppy.

"So your gay too?" Emily asks, a smile forming on her lips.

"Yes." Paige said, smiling up at the girl.

"You know It says a lot about a person, the way they love, with the way they treat a dog." Emily says after Paige puts Parker down.

"Well look at him. Who wouldn't love on him?" Paige asks.

"You would be surprised." Emily says, her and the dog making their way back inside. Paige just stood there looking at the water for awhile. "You coming? I will let you pick your own bedroom." Emily ducked her head out the door and yelled. Paige smiled softly at the girl and made her way inside.


	3. Chapter 3

"I am not taking that Emily." Paige said.

"You said you liked it. I really want you to be comfortable here." Emily protested.

"I will be comfortable in any of the rooms here, I don't need yours." Paige said laughing.

"There is another room up here with me, and then there are three more downstairs." Emily continued. "Maybe just take the one up here by me. My friends are coming to visit next week, and it's best that you be far away from them."

"Why is that?" Paige asked as her eyes widened.

"They are." She paused finding the right words. "A handful."

"Oh. I guess I can just room here then." Paige said walking into the room across from Emily's. "The view is great!"

"The rooms upstairs have the best views. Both overlook the ocean. So I am going to go downstairs and start supper, unpack and make yourself comfortable please. I really do want you to enjoy your time here." Emily said before she turned around and headed downstairs.

"Well Parker," she turned to the puppy that was sitting on the floor looking up at her with his head turned sideways, "let's unpack." She set the pup on the bed and started to remove her clothes from her luggage and put it into the drawers and closet.

"Paige, dinner is ready!" She heard Emily tell from the bottom of the stairs from her spot laying on the bed next to the puppy.

"You know Parker, your mommy is very attractive. I don't think being around her for weeks will be a problem." With that Paige picked up the dog and made her way downstairs. She placed him on the floor, him following after her closely.

"Looks like someone has a crush." Emily said.

"What?" Paige looked startled at the darker girl.

"The dog. He is following you everywhere." Emily pointed to the pup at Paige's feet. When Paige stopped walking the dog walked in to the back of her feet.

"What can I say, even the dogs know I'm a catch." Paige said, winking at Emily.

"Ok there high and mighty, sit down and eat this. Then you need to take these pills the doctor gave you for your panic attacks/anxiety." Emily said.

"Hmm, you are better than my mother." Paige said, eating the chicken and rice the girl put in front of her. "And you cook better than her too. This is really good."

"Stop it. This isn't even something I tried to make good." Emily laughed during down across from Paige. "So, part of helping you back along is to have sort of a therapy session with me once a day. I figured we could do it during dinner, that way your evenings are free. In the mornings we will do some exercising, getting you in the pool or if it is nice out, the ocean."

"Wait, therapy? I'm physically tired" Paige started before Emily cut in.

"I believe that physical healing can be helped with some mental healing. It doesn't hurt to talk things out Paige. You might feel better even. And it isn't really an option." She finished with a smile. "Total honesty."

"Ok, so can we do like deal thing? I answer your question, you answer mine? I don't really like to go on and on about myself." Paige said looking down at her food.

"If you give me total honesty, then I don't see why that would be a problem." Emily said, wishing that the girl wouldn't turn her head down. "What we're you thinking in the pool before your panic attack happens?"

"Just getting right to it?" Emily nodded at her question. "I was thinking that my times better be better than before, or my father was going to kill me. Then I jumped in and everything went away, all thoughts. I don't think of anything but the next stroke or the turn while I'm swimming."

"Your dad gets mad when your times don't improve? You said in the hospital that you don't seem the way you used to in high school and college, why do you think that is?" Emily asked.

"I don't swim for me anymore. In school I did it because it made me happy, made me feel free. To be in the water was like flying. Then he stepped in and suddenly it wasn't what it used to be for me anymore." Paige said, anger in her tone.

"An escape?" Emily asked.

"How did you know?" Paige looked at her.

"I used to swim too. I did it for years before my accident." Emily said.

"What accident?" Paige asked.

"I got in the car with my girlfriend after she had been drinking and she wrecked the car." Emily pulled the collar of her shirt down enough for Paige to see the start of a nasty looking scar. "I was thrown through the windshield. This shoulder taking to majority of the blow."

"Were you drinking?" Paige asked.

"No. I got in the car thinking that she would stop if she knew I was in danger." Emily said sadly.

"What about her?" Paige asked, fearing the answer.

"She died upon impact. I was in the hospital the three weeks. Found out two weeks after that that my shoulder was no longer any good for swimming. Tried some other sports, but everything bothered it too much. So the coach let me stick around and help with physical therapy so I wouldn't lose my scholarship. Found that I really like it, so I changed my major to it. And here I am." Emily said.

"I'm sorry about all that." Paige said, looking Emily squarely in the eye.

"Now it's your turn." Emily said, gathering the plates to do the dishes. Paige stepped up and gently pushed the girl out of the way to do them herself. "Why did you decide to let your dad train you?"

"Would you believe that I had no other options?" Paige asked. Emily shook her head. "He payed for school, as long as I gave him five years to train for the Olympics. He was hoing that I would place in the first three and continue with it."

"And?" Emily asked.

"It's been three years, and I just ended up at the bottom of his pool." Paige said, finishing the last dish. "In a sad way, I'm grateful. I used to love swimming. Now, I don't even like the smell of it. He ruined it for me." Paige said, walking away from the sink, heading to the stairs.

"Use the upstairs shower and bathroom, I'll use the downstairs one. Two water heaters, both can run at the same time. I'll see you tomorrow McCuller's." Emily called after her.

"How early?" Paige yelled back.

"Oh, you will hate me in the morning." Emily responded, watching the girl retreat upstairs. Following Paige was Parker, with difficulty making it up the first two stairs. Emily watched Paige pick the pup up and carry him into her room. This should be interesting, the girl thought.


	4. Chapter 4

"Oh my God, you have to be kidding me!" Paige yelled from her spot in bed, buried under her pillows and blankets.

"No, I'm not. So get up, we got a lot to do on the first day!" Emily said, picking Parker up from Paige's bed and heading downstairs with him. It was the first thing she walked into when she went into Paige's room this morning. Paige was under the covers, except for her head, which Parker was laying on top of. It had been ten minutes and Paige still hadn't come downstairs. Emily walked over to her iPod station and started playing a song, that started playing music loudly throughout the house.

"What the hell is that?" Paige yelled as she came down the stairs. "What time is it?"

"It is five in the morning. And I placed speakers all through the house so I can listen to music wherever I am." Emily said, handing Paige a cup of coffee.

"I haven't gotten up this early since...since high school." Paige said, making a heaving noise after.

"Didn't like high school?" Emily asked, amused at the girl.

"Did anyone really like it? I was picked on after I came out. Really bad. It stopped in eleventh grade after the girl that did it moved away, and I joined the swim team. I try not to do things that remind me of it. Getting up early would be one of those things." Paige said.

"That sucks. But we will be getting up early everyday, so you will have to learn how to deal with that. Now go change, we are going for a run." Emily said pushing Paige in the direction of the stairs.

"Fine!" Paige returned five minutes later in her running shoes and a tank.

"Just in time, let's go." Emily said, putting Parker in his crate and making her way out the back door to the beach.

"I've never ran on the beach." Paige said as she followed Emily.

"It's more difficult than people think, so we will take it easy today." Emily said looking back at Paige who was already having difficulty with the sand. About twenty minutes into the run Emily came to a stop and looked out at the water. "Paige look."

"Whoa." Paige looked out at the water to see what Emily was looking at. Dolphins had started jumping in the water a few feet from them. "You know I've actually never been to the beach."

"What?" Emily turned to the girl. "Paige are you feeling ok? You look really pale." Emily noted the girl was sweaty and pale, dark circles under her eyes. She also noted that Paige was breathing really shallow.

"Yes. I'm fine. Let's not forget that I almost drown yesterday." Paige said with a laugh. The truth was Paige was really tired. Her chest was hurting, which was unusual for the athlete who usually ran everyday in the gym.

"Let's sit down for a little bit. Let you catch your breath." Emily said.

Paige lays down on the sand and lays her arms behind her head, resting her head on them and closing her eyes, concentrating on breathing so she didn't have a panic attack. A shadow over her face made her open her eyes. Emily was hovering over her.

"You're sure you are ok?" Emily asked.

"Yes." Paige said, but the girl didn't budge from her hovering over Paige. A strand of her hair fell down, Paige reaching up and tucking it back behind her ear. "I'm fine Emily." The two continued to stare before a voice broke their concentration.

"Emily Fields!" A female voice yelled. Emily turned and looked to a voice that she hadn't heard in over a year, her ex-girlfriend.

"Alison?" Emily questioned as she turned away from Paige to look at the girl. Sure enough there stood Emily's ex. She was just as Emily remembered, blonde and overly dressed. She was pretty, Emily thought, she just wasn't what she was looking for at the time that she broke it off. When Emily stood to greet the girl Paige got a good look at the girl, freezing in her tracks. She quickly stood up and turned away from the girl, hoping that she didn't see her face, she stood so that she was behind Emily.

"What are you doing back her Alison?" Emily asked.

"I'm thinking of moving back here, now that I don't need to be at the office for work, I can live where I want." Alison said.

"Oh. That is nice." Emily said, feeling awkward in the girls presence. "Um, Alison this is."

"Pig skin?" Alison cut Emily off after getting a good look at Paige's face. "I see you are still taking in hopeless strays." Venom laced the girls voice.

"I'll, um, see you back at the house." Paige stumbled over her words, not making sure contact with either girl, before she started running towards Emily's house.

"What the hell Alison!" Emily turned and yelled at the girl.

"Please, pig skin isn't worth your time." Alison said, stepping closer to Emily and taking her hand in her own.

"Her name is Paige, Alison. And this is the same shit that broke us up in the first place." Emily said, turning on her heels to go after Paige.

"Fine! I'll give you a few days, then I will swing by the house!" Alison called after the girl.

Paige had made it to the house before a full on panic attack happened. She was now pacing around her room, collecting random items of hers and throwing them into her suitcase. Nine years. That was how long it had been since Paige saw Alison. That girl made her life a living hell in high school for her first two years. Picking on the girl and threatening to tell her father that Paige was gay. Paige would go home after school, after being tortured by the girl, and cut the inside of her own thighs. One cut for every time that Alison would threaten to tell her secret. One day in gym, Alison walked over to the girl while she was changing.

_"What are those marks on your thighs there, pig skin?" Alison said, laughing as a small crowd gathered around Paige._

_"It's nothing." Paige said as she pulled her jeans back up, running from the room after slamming her locker shut._

Paige had somehow backed herself into the corner of her room furthest from the door, back against the wall she slid down. She pulled her knees up and wrapped her and around them. She was trying to control her breathing but was having a hard time when the events of that day kept paying over and over. What she had done that evening after she told her father she was gay. That scar would be with her forever. Paige was running her hand over it when Emily slowly walked in the room.


	5. Chapter 5

"Paige?" Emily said as she entered the girls bedroom. She looked around, not noticing Paige on the other side of the room at first. When her eyes landed on the girls shaking form. "Paige? What are you doing?" It was as if Paige didn't hear her. She walked over to the other side of the room and crouched down to Paige, sitting in front of her. She reached over and grabbed the girls hand, halting Paige's back and forth movement over her scar. Emily let out a small gasp when she saw the scar Paige was making over.

"How did this happen?"

"Alison." Was all Paige responded with.

"Alison did this to you?" Emily asked, confused.

"I did this to myself, because of something she did." Paige said.

"Hey. Talk to me. We can consider this your therapy session." Emily said, trying to make the girl calmer.

"She, uh, she found out about me being gay before I told anyone. She caught me looking at one of the girls when we were changing in gym. She used it against me to bully me. One day after school I was in the pool, getting ready to try out for the swim team. She came in and said she was going to tell my dad that I was gay, that I had hit on her several times and she was sick of it." Tears started running down Paige's face at the thought of that day and what she did. Emily squeezed Paige's hand as a show of support that she was still there. "She followed me home and stayed outside of my house. I ran to my bathroom, thinking that my life was over if she told my dad, and grabbed the razor I usually used. I was holding it to this spot." Paige runs her hand over the scar that was about six inches long on her inner thigh. "I heard a car door close outside, just assumed it was her coming to the house, and pulled it across my thigh." Paige lowers hear head thinking about that day.

"Did she tell him? What happened to you?" Emily asked slowly.

"It was my dad coming home." Paige laughed out, but it was a laugh that made Emily's skin crawl. "I didn't even hear his car in the drive way. He knew I was home so he came up to ask me about the swimming I had been doing for try outs. Him knocking on the door was what woke me out of the trance I was in, watching the blood run down my leg."

"Was it a lot?" Emily asked, looking at the scar on her leg.

"More than what I was used to." This made Emily cringe. No one should be used to cutting themselves and the amount of blood that comes with. "I cleaned it up, wrapped it tightly and taped it up. It hurt the next morning when I got in the pool, worse so than the initial cut, but I just worked through it. Two days later I made the swim team and Alison was gone. Moved away. And I haven't seen her since." Paige trailed off.

"Since today?" Emily asked.

"Nine years." Paige stated. "Nine fucking years. I never thought of her once. Not since the day they said she was gone."

"I'm so sorry Paige." Emily said.

"It wasn't your fault." Paige said, looking up at the girl. "She was just a bad person."

"She still is." Emily said. "We dated for a year and a half. She moved about four months ago. She hates it here. Hated this house, my car, this puppy." Emily said as she handed Parker to Paige, the puppy licking the girls face, making Emily smile at the girl.

"Who could hate this puppy?" Paige asked, laughing at Parker.

"Alison. It took me a long time to see what everyone else saw in her. She did a really good job at lieing and hiding that part of her from me." Emily said sadly. Paige reached over and lifted Emily's face with her chin.

"But like me, you got away from her, that is what matters." Paige said looking into Emily's eyes.

"That name, that she called you. Why did she call you that?" Emily asked slowly.

"Because of the marks from fresh cuts on the back of my thighs. She would see it during gym class when we were changing." Paige spoke quietly.

"She was horrible, still is." Emily said.

"I can't deal with her, Emily. If she comes here to see you, I have to go home." Paige said frantically.

"You, are safe here. She is not allowed in this house. In my home." Emily said, determined.

"Thank you." Paige said. Emily stood back up, holding her hand out for the girl to take.

"Come on, change into your bathing suit, we are going swimming." Emily said. Paige allowed herself to be pulled up off the floor.

"I don't really feel like swimming on my vacation." Paige said putting air quotations around the word vacation, speaking sarcastically.

"Trust me, swimming in the ocean, best medication in the world." Emily said walking towards the door, turning back to tell Paige to be downstairs in five minutes.

When Paige entered the kitchen she was wearing her usual swim suit that she wore to train in. She watched Emily walk in, carrying Parker. When she stood back up, Paige saw that she was wearing a bikini. The color, a deep red. Paige felt a tightness in her chest when her eyes roamed to Emily's flat stomach, lower to her hip bones. Paige wanted to run her tongue over the length of skin that was now exposed.

"No, no that won't do." Emily said when she looked at Paige. Emily had a small party in the inside, seeing how Paige was looking over her body, the look of lust burning in her eyes. "We are swimming for fun, not for the Olympics. Go into my room and go through the top left drawer, find a two piece suit and don't come out until you find one."

Paige turned and walked into the girls room. It was warm and inviting. It smelled like Emily. Vanilla. It was a scent that Paige was growing familiar with the more time she spent around the girl. She looked around the room, taking in the soft colors around her. On the walls were photos of Emily, and what Paige assumed were her friends. Another photo of Emily and an older couple.

"Mom and dad." Came a voice behind Emily.

"That is what I figured. You look like your mother." Paige said, looking back at Emily leaning against the door frame, now wearing a black cover up over her bikini.

"She would be so happy to hear that." Emily said as she pushed off the door frame and made her way into the room. She began going through the drawer that she had told Paige help bathing suits. "Here, something tells me you would look really good in blue. Go in there and change."

Paige made her way into Emily's private bathroom. After shutting the door she started to take her suit off, replacing it with the one Emily gave her. She turned to leave but stopped when she saw the perfume bottle sitting on Emily's counter top. She picked it up and smelled it, and it smelled just like Emily did. She noticed that Emily used vanilla scented shampoo as well.

"Been too long since you wore a bikini?" Emily shouted, breaking Paige from her thoughts. Paige threw the door open and stepped out.

"Yea, didn't know what tied where." Paige said.

"Hmm, I was right, you do look nice in blue." Emily said with a wink as she made her way out of the bedroom. "Let's go swimming then!"

After laying their towels down and setting a cooler beside them, the two girls made their way to the waters edge. It was hot out, and the water felt like bath water as Paige stepped into it, heading out until it was up to her waist. Emily was still standing at the edge, up to her ankles when she looked up at Paige. The way the light was reflecting off the water, making Paige's skin glow made the girl look beautiful.

More beautiful, Emily thought. The bikini she was wearing was hugging her hips the right way, the top barely covering the girls breasts. Emily ran and jumped head first into the water beside Paige. Wanting to splash the girl, but also wanting to give her body time to cool off. Paige McCullers was making Emily feel things she hasn't felt in a long time. This was going to be a very rough time for the girl.


	6. Chapter 6

"See? Told you it would be relaxing." Emily said. The two had made their way out to where the waves broke and were floating next to each other.

"I never doubted it would." Paige said sarcastically. "I miss this feeling."

"What feeling?" Emily asked.

"The feeling of being free. It is what water used to do for me. What swimming used to do for me. Until dad got a hold of that." Paige admitted.

"Why did you start swimming?" Emily asked.

"I guess I just liked being in the water. Mom said as a baby, I really liked bath time." Paige laughed at this. "And then when I saw that you could do that in school, be on the swim team, I knew I wanted to do it. Then all the stuff with Alison started. The pool was somewhere I could go that I knew she wouldn't be. Somewhere I could go to forget all the pain and torture."

"She does hate the water." Emily said, remembering the girl hated it when Emily bought the house by the beach. "She hated this place when I bought it. She hardly came around."

"Well she missed out." Paige said, flashing Emily a small smile before dunking herself under the water and swimming towards the shore. Once on the beach the girls made their way over to their towels and layed down.

"You never talk about your mom that much." Emily stated.

"She dealt with me coming out worse than my father. We were close, until the night I admitted it to her. I knew she was stressed with hardly seeing me and dad, with the training and swimming, but a week after I told her she was gone. She left a note that said she needed to go away and really think about things. About her life. We had not idea where she went, but apparently she was at her sisters home in Maine. She came home after a month. But she said that she couldn't accept my decision. And if it was truly the way I was choosing to live my life, than she would have no part in it. And from that day on, I never spoke one word to her, and she never spoke to me. I never went back home. I got an apartment and bought new clothes, left everything at her house. My dad never spoke about it. He just kept the training up while I worked and went to school. I had to keep training with him because he paid for school. I couldn't have kept going without him paying for it. So now I have a degree in sports medicine, a crappy apartment and am still under the thumb of my father." Paige said the last part with a laugh.

"What is stopping you from walking away?" Emily asked.

"I gave him my word. I agreed to train if he payed for school." Paige said.

"But?" Emily asked, sensing there was more.

"He is changing my 'routine'." Paige said, putting air quotes around the last word.

"Paige, the doctors said your panic attack could have been drug related." Emily shared with Paige what the doctors had told her before she was released.

"Yea. I figured that much." Paige admitted.

"So you are using something?" Emily asked.

"I was told they were vitamins. But I could tell they weren't. My times improved too fast. I was gaining muscle easily. But I never questioned him until I started having panic attacks and blacking out. He told me that it was a low dose of steroids." Emily's mouth fell open. She couldn't imagine a father drugging their own daughter. "He said that if I placed for the Olympics, I would stop taking them in time for the drug testing. That just placing would bring him a lot of money. He said that If I told, or if I quit, he would ruin any career that I would get with swimming. That I would never make a name for myself." Paige hung her head low. She couldn't believe how good it felt to get it off her chest, but at the same time she couldn't believe she just blurted it out.

"Paige, you can't go through with this. As you saw first hand, this could kill you. What happens if next time you have a panic attack, or black out and you are alone in a pool?" Emily was beyond furious with Nick McCullers at this point. So mad that she didn't realize her hand had moved up to cup Paige's face.

"You are the first person I have admitted this to." Paige said, feeling the warmth of Emily's hand on her face, making a small smile creep onto her face. Emily moved her thumb over the girls face. She didn't know what it was about Paige, but she felt so comfortable around the girl. She slowly leaned her head in, watching as Paige licked her own lips, knowing what Emily wanted.

"You are a patient." Emily said out loud. Softly, as her lips were inches from Paige's. The two leaned in at the same time, their lips locking in a slow, sweet kiss. Paige felt Emily's hand move from her face to the back of her neck, pulling the girl closer to her. Paige was just about to move her hands to Emily's hips when a voice coming from towards the house broke them apart.

"I really hate people that know you." Paige said, causing both girls to let out a soft chuckle.

"That would be my friend Hannah. I guess the girls showed up sooner than expected. Can we, um, keep this between us?" Emily asked Paige.

"Yes." Paige said, smiling back at Emily. The dark skinned girl couldn't take her eyes off of Paige. They flicked between the girls eyes and her lips. Emily looked back towards to house and quickly leaned back in to kiss Paige again before getting up off her towel.

"I better go help them get settled, and not pick your room as one of their own." Emily said as she picked her towel up.

"I am going to stay out here for a while. You were right, this is actually very relaxing." Paige said, laying down on the towel.

"Don't be too long, ok? I would like you to meet the girls and come out to dinner with us later." Emily said.

"Ok." Paige replied. As Emily turned to leave Paige turned her head and watched her go. There was something about the dark skinned girl that Paige felt was comforting. She felt like she could tell Emily anything. And she she had. She had opened up more tho this girl in two days then she had with her last girlfriend, and they dated for over a year. As she looked out over the ocean, Paige felt that for the first time in a long time, she was finally gaining control over her own life. Maybe it was time to do what she wanted, to remove herself from her fathers dreams and follow her own.


	7. Chapter 7

"So she is cute." Hannah says as Emily enters her kitchen.

"Hannah, she is a client." Emily said. Hannah rolls her eyes at the girl before continuing.

"Yea, but she is hot." Hannah said.

"Then why don't you date her?" Spencer said, looking around Hannah to see Emily mouthing a "thank you".

"So you guys are a few days early, what happened?" Emily asked.

"Nothing happened. We all just had an extra week off, we decided not to waste it. We didn't know you had a client staying, or else we would have went to a hotel." Aria replied.

"It's no problem. And you have been here when I have had someone staying with me. Only difference with Paige, she is staying longer than usual. And she is in your room Hannah." Emily yelled the last part as Paige entered the kitchen, stopping the conversation.

"I can move my stuff to another room." Paige said quietly.

"No! No, you should be close to Emily's room." Hannah said with a wink to Paige, out of view of Emily.

"Han!" Emily groaned. "Girls this is Paige. Paige this is Hannah, Aria and.

"McCuller's?" Spencer said.

"Holy shit, Spencer Hastings." Paige said.

"You two know each other?" Emily asked.

"We played against each other in field hockey games. Hell of a shoulder throw this one has." Spencer said with a smirk in Paige's direction.

"Yea, well, you weren't so bad yourself Hastings." Paige replies. "I'm going to go get a shower, I hate the feeling of sand everywhere." Paige turned and walked up the stairs. As soon as she heard the door close Hannah started again.

"Want to go shower too Em?"

"Hannah, seriously. Leave her alone." Aria said causing Hannah to stick her tongue out at the smaller girl.

"Oh, we have a problem too." Emily said.

"What's that?" Aria asked.

"Allison is back." Emily said.

"Here?" Spencer asked.

"In town. She didn't say where she was saying. I didn't really give her a chance to." Emily admitted.

"What do you mean you didn't give her a chance?" Aria asked.

"There is more to the reason of why I blew up at her. She knows Paige." Emily said.

"Uh oh, did she get to Paige before you did?" Hannah asked.

"Hannah!" This time it was Spencer who was starring at the blonde.

"She knew her in high school. Apparently Alison tortured Paige. Really bad. And when she saw Paige that day on the beach she just tore into her again. Paige got upset and ran back to the house. Alison belittled Paige more before I completely flipped out on her. I told her that I had no interest in her and came back to the house to find Paige. She was up in her room, curled into a ball in the corner by the bed. She had her hands wrapped around her legs, when went to move her hands out of the way, I saw all these scars on the back of her thighs. Alison treated her so bad that Paige did that to herself." Emily finished the story, sitting in a chair at the island bar, pouring herself a glass of wine.

"Whoa." Spencer said, taking a drink from Emily's glass. "That would explain all her anger on the field."

"Yea, she was angry whenever I first met her in the hospital. Apparently her father hasn't treated her any better than Alison." Emily finished her sentence just as Paige's door opened and the girl came down the steps. "So, Paige, how about you come out to dinner with me and the girls?"

"Do I really have a choice, since I am practically on house arrest?" Paige said with a smile directed towards Emily.

"Well when you put it that way, then, no. No choice." Emily said with a small laugh.

"Ok." Hannah said slowly, breaking the starring contest between the two girls. "I am going to go get changed, lets leave her in like twenty minutes. I'm hungry." Hannah ran off to her room to get ready. The other girls slowly went to their rooms to get ready, leaving Paige and Emily alone in the kitchen.

"You're not on house arrest you know?" Emily stated, running her finger along the top of her glass. Paige took a seat across from Emily.

"That was a joke." Page said.

"It was a good one. But you are not on house arrest. You don't have to go with me and the girls. You are more than welcome to stay here, cook, watch Tv." Emily said.

"I don't have any friends." Paige admitted, looking down at her hands.

"Ok." Emily said and waited for the girl to go on.

"I mean, I'm not like some freak." Paige said, looking up at Emily.

"I know you're not." Emily said.

"My fathers training schedule is kind of ridiculous. It doesn't really leave any room to go out. My social life has kind of suffered because of it. I'm twenty five years old, and I have never been out with a group of friends." Paige looked up to see Emily smiling at her. "Now your going to make fun of me." Emily slid her glass of wine over to Paige.

"You are going to drink this. And then another glass. Then you are going to go out with me and my friends for the evening. Go ahead, drink that." Emily said as Paige worked to finish the glass. Emily poured another one before standing. "I am going to go get ready. When I come back, that better be gone." Emily said pointing to the glass.

"So." Hannah said as she sat down in Emily's seat across from Paige.

"So?" Paige said after Hannah didn't continue.

"You like Emily?" Hannah asked.

"What?" Paige asked.

"Do you, like Emily?" Hannah asked again.

"Like?" Paige questioned.

"Like do you want to be friends with her, or do you want to creep into her room at night and do unspeakable things to her?" Hannah said with a smirk.

"I think 'creep' is a strong word to use when speaking about sex." Paige responded.

"So do you like her that way?" Hannah asked.

"I" Paige was cut off.

"Alright, lets go!" Emily yelled as she came down the steps. The girls all walked out the front door, Emily turning to Paige and whispering, "You didn't finish that last glass."

"Yeah, well Hannah had other ideas." Before Emily could question Paige, they all climbed into Spencer's vehicle and made their way into town. Thy ate dinner at a nice resturaunt before heading over to a club that Hannah had suggested.

"Taking it easy tonight?" Aria asked Paige.

"Um, I've never really been out to a club like this. Or drank a whole lot." Paige admitted, taking a sip of her beer.

"All the more reason to let lose. Look at those three." Aria pointed to the dance floor where Emily, Hannah and Spencer were trying to out do each other with awful dance moves. "She does dance better than that, with the right partner." Aria said as she got up and made her way to the bar to get Paige a few shots. Paige sat in the booth watching the girls. Watching Emily as she tried to attempt the walking man with Spencer. She really was the most beautiful girl that Paige had ever layed eyes on. "Here, drink these. And quickly." Aria said as she sat down five shots of tequila in front of Paige. Paige did as Aria told her and downed all five shots. Twenty minutes later the girl could feel the alcohol setting in. She was sitting in the booth when Aria grabbed her hand and pulled her to the dance floor with the other girls. By this time the other girls were tipsy and and the dance floor had gotten more crowded as the night drug on. Hannah and Spencer were dancing with guys that they had met earlier and Aria was currently talking to someone.

Emily was dancing by herself, her back to Paige, swaying slowly to the music. Paige, under the influence of the alcohol that Aria had given her, and her emotions towards Emily, walked up behind the girl and wrapped her arms around her waist, pulling her closer. She felt Emily lean back into her as the two swayed to the music. Emily placed one hand on Paige's that were across her stomach, her other one went up to Paige's neck. Paige lowered her head so that lips met Emily's neck. Paige bit softly at Emily's pulse point, feeling Emily's hand on her neck tighten its grip on her. Paige slipped a hand under Emily's shirt, setting a fire to Emily's skin where ever she touched. Emily spun in Paige's grasp so that she could attach her lips to Paige's neck. Her assault caused the girl to pull Emily tighter to her, her leg slipping between Emily's causing friction the Emily was craving. As the music picked up so did the twos movements with each other. Out of the corner of her eye Hannah saw the two girls wrapped up in one another. She reached over and tapped Spencer's shoulder, gesturing towards the two.

"Un, oh." Spencer said, pulling away from the guy she was dancing with and heading towards the two girls, hoping to get to them before they went any further. Pulling the two apart, she drug them both outside. "Ok, I'm going to flag a cab down and send you home." She said directly to Emily's face. "I don't want you to wake up regretting something." Aria had stepped outside and taken Paige back in with her, sitting her down in a booth, sitting beside her so she couldn't get out.

"Hannah went with Emily so she can get her into bed, lets take this one home." Spencer laughed as she pointed to Paige, who was now asleep at this point with her head tilted back in the booth and her mouth hanging open. "Let me get a photo of this first for evidence." Both girls laughed and used their phones to get pictures of a drunk passed out Paige, before dragging her out of the booth and getting her to the car, with much struggle.

"Alright, lets just put her on the couch for the night. I am not struggling with her dead weight and those stairs." Aria said as they set Paige down on the couch, th girl immediately laying down and snoring.

"Hangover?" Spencer asked as she pointed to Paige.

"Oh yea, I gave her five shots of tequila tonight." Aria and Spencer laughed and made their way to their own rooms to crash for the night.

An hour later Paige stirred to the sound of the fridge being opened. She looked over the back of the couch to see Hannah digging around. She stood up, swaying a lot, and made her way to the counter. Hannah turned and laughed at the girl as she sat down a glass of water and two Tylenol down. Paige quickly downed the pills and chugged three glasses of water. Hannah helped her to the stairs before making her way to her own room. Paige climbed the stairs one by one and made her way to her room. She pulled her shirt and pants off before crawling into bed. When she rolled over, she realized that she was not alone in the bed. She knew exactly who it was when the girls perfume entered her nose.

Emily rolled over and buried her nose in Paige's neck, her leg intertwining with Paige's and her arm across her stomach. Paige rubbed her hands up and down Emily's back, the girl began to more her lips against Paige's neck. Her center moving slowly against Paige's naked thigh. Paige couldn't take it anymore. She rolled them over so that she was on top of Emily, her lips finding Emily's and kissing the girl deeply. Emily gasped at the assault, as Paige used the leverage to enter her tongue into Emily's mouth, the other girls instantly toying with Paige's. Paige pressed her hips down into Emily's, both girls moaning at the pressure between them. Emily lifted her hands up to Paige's hips, sliding her fingers into Paige's panties and pulling them down as far as she could in her position. Paige helped Emily remove them the rest of they way before settling down between Emily's legs again. Both girls letting out a sigh as their naked centers made contact.

"Off." Emily said as she tried to remove Paige's offending bra. As she struggled with it, Paige started kissing her way down Emily's neck to her collar bone. Once she removed the article of clothing her hands moved to cup Paige's breasts, causing the girls hips to thrust forward violently, making Emily scream out in pleasure at the contact. "More." She said as she moved her hips against Paige's. Paige began he trail again, kissing her way down Emily's body, giving attention to each one of Emily's nipples before moving down. Paige moved her mouth to kiss each of Emily's hip bones. She could tell by the way the girl was wiggling under her, her breathing labored and the soft moans she was letting out that she didn't need to be any more worked up, so Paige lowered her mouth to the place that Emily needed her the most. Emily grunted at the contact she had been dyeing for since first laying her eyes on the girl. Paige sent her into a bliss that she had never felt before. Taking her up and bringing her back down slowly. She flipped them over and gave Paige all the attention she deserved before she crawled back up and they both settled into a drunken sleep.

The next morning Emily woke first. The first thing she noticed was the warmth that was around her stomach. Something she hadn't felt in years. She basked in it for a few minutes before the girl behind her stirred. Emily turned her head to the side slowly to see what girl she had managed to drag home the night before. She felt the breath leave her body when she saw that the girl laying beside her was Paige. She slowly made her way out of the bed, without disturbing Paige. She threw on a pair of sweat pants and a sweat shirt before making her way downstairs.

"Shit. Shit. Shit." She whispered to herself as she made coffee.

"We better not be out of coffee?" Spencer asked as she made her way into the kitchen, trying to be quite.

"Why are you whispering?" Emily looked at her confused.

"Paige is passed out on the couch." Spencer laughed out.

"No. She isn't." Emily said.

"What do you mean?" Spencer said as she got up and walked to the couch. "Me and Aria put her here last night after we got home. I sent you and Hannah in a cab first." Spencer stopped mid sentence.

"Why did you send us in a cab first?" Emily looked at Spencer, the girl not answering. "Why Spence?"

"You and Paige were making out on the dance floor, I just wanted to make sure it didn't go any further." Spencer said.

"Well good try." Emily whispered.

"What?" Spencer asked.

"We slept together Spencer! I mean, she is my patient. I am supposed to be making her better, fixing her, not fucking her!" Emily yelled as she slammed her hand down on the counter.


	8. Chapter 8

"Whoa. Ok, how do you even know you slept together? Maybe you just fell asleep in the same bed?" Spencer questioned, unconvinced herself.

"I remember Spencer. And waking up naked is a pretty good indicator." Emily said, placing her head on her crossed arms on the counter.

"Ok, so she might not remember. She was pretty hammered. Aria gave her five shots of tequila on top of the beers she had had." Spencer said while rubbing Emily's back. "She didn't wake up the entire time we were getting her from the car to the couch."

"I don't know what I am going to do." Emily said. "If this gets out, that we slept together while she was drunk, this could ruin me. I'm not even supposed to let my clients drink."

"Lets just see how this goes. Play by ear. Like I said, if she remembers anything at all, I will be really surprised. So lets work on breakfast, you know how Hannah is when she wakes up hungry." Spencer said the last part hoping to get a laugh from Emily, all she got was a small sigh.

Two hours later everyone but Paige had made their way to the kitchen and had eaten. Spencer and Emily kept to themselves what had happened the night before. Spencer decided that her, Hannah and Aria would go down to the beach and set up for their day of being lazy. Emily made a cup of black coffee and took two Tylenol to her bedroom for Paige. Upon entering she noticed that their clothes were thrown all over the floor. Using her feet she tried to hide her clothes from Paige's site and put her clothes into a pile at the side of the bed. She looked towards the bed for the first time, wishing immediately that she hadn't. Paige had her arms hooked around Emily's pillow, her face buried in it. Her back was exposed to the sunlight, the sheet having fallen just enough that Emily could see the dimples on her lower back. She had to shake her head when the first thing she wanted to do was take all of her clothes off and crawl into bed with her and run her tongue in those dimples until it woke Paige up, just so she could worship that body for hours. 'Stop it', she yelled to herself.

She walked over to the bed, placing the coffee and two pills down on the night stand. She then moved the sheet up to Paige's shoulders, covering the skin that Emily was now craving to touch and taste. She sat on the side of the bed and moved her hand so that she could push the hair off of Paige's face. This made the girl stir and murmur words into Emily's pillow, making her let out a little laugh. Paige opened one eye and slammed it shut at the offending light.

"I am going to kill Aria." She whispered out making Emily laugh harder.

"I don't think Spence would let you do that." Emily said. "I brought you coffee and some pills." This made the girl lift her head up.

"Coffee?" Paige questioned.

"Yes. Black, that is how you should drink your first few cups when you have a hangover. Did you have fun last night?" Emily questioned, hoping to get some answers from the girl without flat out asking.

"I remember leaving here and right now. Does that mean I had a good time?" Paige asked as she set her head back down on the pillow only to realize that she could smell the scent of Emily on her pillow. "Oh my God!" She yelled.

"What?" Emily braced herself for the backlash that she was about to receive from the other girl.

"I didn't mean to crash in your bedroom!" She said as she sat up, pulling the sheet up with her realizing she was also naked. "I guess I thought it was mine. And I am naked in your bed, oh my God. I am really going to kill Aria now." She rambled out all at once.

"Hey, Paige, it is fine. You know how many times Hannah has slept naked in my bed from drunken nights?" Emily laughed out.

"Well now I am just going to be sick." Paige said as her face relaxed more.

"Why don't you take these and drink this and then meet me downstairs. The girls already ate and are on the beach, but I will make you something before we go out." Emily said handing Paige the pills and coffee. Ten minutes later Paige came downstairs dressed in jogging pants and a tank.

"You going to the beach in that?" Emily asked, pointing up and down Paige with her spatula.

"My suit is under this, thank you very much." Paige said as she made her way to the coffee pot to fill her mug up again.

"I hope you like pancakes." Emily said.

"I think I would like anything that you cooked." Paige said as she sat down at the table. "I feel like shit."

"Well, you look like shit." Emily said as she flipped a pancake onto a plate and slid a stack in front of Paige.

"Gee, thanks." Paige faked hurt.

"Just eat your breakfast so we can go outside." Emily laughed out. "So you really don't remember anything from the club?" Emily asked. She didn't remember right away this morning but as soon as she rolled over and saw that it was Paige that was holding her, everything came flooding back at once.

"We went to a club? I am never drinking again." Paige admitted with a laugh.

"You know how many times I have said that?" Emily said as she turned around with her mug of coffee and watched as Paige ate. After she was done and the dishes were cleaned the two made their way to the other girls. Paige went to have a 'talk' with Aria while Emily layed down beside Spencer.

"So, how did it go?" Spencer asked.

"She doesn't remember anything. She thinks that she just passed out naked in my bed." Emily said.

"Why do you seem sad about that?" Spencer asked.

"I've brought girls home before, and when they left in the morning, remembering everything, I felt nothing. But this morning with Paige, the fact that she didn't remember anything, I felt hurt." Emily admitted.

"Hmm, why do you think you felt like that?" Spencer asked.

"I don't know." Emily played it off.

"You do to. Just say it out loud." Spencer coaxed.

"I want her to remember. I want her to say that it wasn't a mistake. That she wouldn't take it back either. That we could do it again. After my initial panic this morning, a small part of me was happy that I ended up with Paige like that. It felt good Spencer, it felt right." Emily admitted. They were broken out of their conversation by a scream from the water. When they looked up they saw that Paige had Aria over her shoulders and was carrying her out to deeper water. Spencer stood up to go rescue Aria, since Hannah was just laughing at them, but turned to Emily before she left.

"You are allowed to be happy Em. Alison didn't ruin everything for you. She didn't ruin you." Spencer made her way into the water and pulled Aria from Paige before dunking the girl underwater. Emily watched as they all played and splashed each other before she layed her head back and closed her eyes. She was stirred out of her sleep by water dripping slowly on her face and a shadow covering her.

"Hannah, I swear to God, I will drown you." She muttered out, not opening her eyes.

"That is a little harsh, don't you think?" Paige said as she sat down beside Emily.

"You wanted to kill Aria this morning, didn't you?" Emily asked, looking over at the soaking wet girl, her mind going to the gutter as she looked at Paige's strong thighs.

"Yea, but Spencer stopped all attacks." Paige laughed. "I am glad I went out with you guys last night. Even if I don't remember. This, being with normal people, feels nice." Emily knew that moment that she needed to tell Paige what had happened. That she couldn't keep it from the girl, she deserved to know the truth.

"Can you come up to the house with me? I really need to tell you something." Emily asked.

"Um, sure. What is it?" Paige asked.

"I really think we need to be at the house to discuss it." Emily stood and started walking to the house, thinking of all the ways that she could tell Paige.

"Ok, what is going on?" Paige asked once they shut the kitchen door.

"Um, I really have to tell you something that happened last night." Emily said. "I can't keep this from you."

"Oh no, what did I do now? Is it going to get back to my father?" Paige asked.

"God, I hope not." Emily said, looking into Paige's eyes, the girl had a confused look on her face. Emily did the only thing she could think of to try and jog the girls memory. She grabbed one of Paige's hands and pulled the girl closer to her, their lips inches from each other. "We slept together last night." Emily whispered to the other girl. Paige's breath hitched before she pulled Emily into a chaste kiss. Emily threw her arms around Paige and pulled the girl impossibly close. "Paige wait." Emily said after a few minutes of kissing.

"Ok. I'm sorry." Paige said as she tried to even out her breathing.

"Don't be sorry." Emily said as she stepped closer to Paige again. "I want this. I just don't want to lose my job if your dad would find out. He could ruin my care" She was cut off again by Paige's lips attaching to hers. Paige grabbed Emily's thighs and pulled the girl up so that her legs locked around Paige's waist. Paige walked them so that they fell onto the couch, Emily under the girl.

"He won't find out. I don't care what he says, I want this too." Paige said as she hovered over Emily, their breath mingling with each other. Out of the corner of her eye Emily saw something move from the window by the door. When she looked to the next window panel she saw Alison looking in the window at the two girls, a smirk plastered on her face before she turned and walked away.

"No. Shit." Emily yelled as she sat up and moved away from Paige to the door. Paige followed after her, not seeing Alison, confused by the girls actions.

"Emily, what is going on?" Paige asked.

"Alison saw us. Damn it, she is going to ruin me. She is going to ruin you." Emily said as she paced back and forth.

"No, she won't." Paige said as she took off in the direction Alison had been walking. Emily was about to go after her when her phone went off. Pulling it out she saw she had a text from Alison:

**"I saw you and that filthy pigskin. This could have been easy for you Emily, now I am going to make sure you lose everything." XO Alison**


	9. Chapter 9

"And where did Paige go?" Spencer asked.

"After Alison." Emily said. After the girl had taken off Emily called the girls up explaining what had happened, leaving out the part of her and Paige making out on the couch. Just stating that Alison had seen them talking and that Paige went after her.

"Why?" Aria asked.

"If she knew that don't you think she would have told us?" Hannah stated, to which all the girls turned and looked at her. "What? I can make a good point too."

"We know honey." Spencer said with a smile as she rubbed Hannah's back. "We need to go look for them. Now. If she still holds the anger towards Alison that she showed on the field, we are in trouble."

"Did Alison tell you where she had moved to?" Hannah asked. "Maybe she just went home?"

"Or that hotel she used to like to take you to Emily, what was it called?" Aria asked, hating to bring up memories of the two of them.

_"Come one Emily! You know I hate the beach." Alison whined as she pulled up her hair in front of the mirror. _

_"Well that is too bad, since I plan on moving there one day." Emily said as she moved to wrap her arms around the girl, resting her chin on Alison's shoulder._

_"It is dirty. And hot. We could just stay here and get hot and dirty." Alison suggested with the wiggle of her eyebrows. "I payed a lot..."_

_"To stay at the Coconut Shell Hotel. I know. You tell me this every time we stay here. And I have to tell you every time that I don't care, I want to go down to the water. You know I miss it." Emily huffed as she turned and started to gather things to take to the beach, knowing that Alison will go down for an hour and then come back to the room._

_"What is this fight really about Emily?" Alison said as she put her hands on her hips and glared at the girl. _

_"The same thing it is always about Alison. You never want to give up anything for me. You never want to do the things I want to do, and I am getting tired of it." Emily said as she realized she was packing up more than just a few things for the beach, but was actually packing everything._

_"Where are you going to go?" Alison said as she walked closer to Emily. "No one else will ever love you like I do." _

_"If this is your idea of love, then I would never want this from someone else." Emily said as she slammed the door in the other girls face._

"The Coconut Shell Hotel." Emily said as she was brought out of her thoughts by Spencer grabbing her hand and squeezing it.

"Lets go there and look first." Spencer said as she pulled Emily with her out of the house. Twenty minutes later the girls stood in front of the hotel.

"There's her car." Hannah said pointing out a little blue car.

"Ok, I am going to go to the front desk and ask for her room number, maybe everyone should stay here?" Spencer suggested. Just as the girls nodded in agreement someone yelling caught their attention. Emily recognized the voice and ran towards it. Making the turn around the corner Emily saw Paige banging on a door and yelling for the person inside to open the door.

"Paige!" Emily yelled out to the girl. Paige turned and looked at Emily, a fire in her eyes, before turning back and banging on the door again.

"Emily, be careful." Spencer said as they made their way around to her.

"Paige, please!" Emily pleaded with the girl to stop.

"Alison, open the fucking door now! You started this in high school, I want to finish it!" Paige yelled. Emily walked up to Paige and grabbed one of her arms, stilling Paige's movements.

"Involved with a client, Emily, that will surely ruin that career you just had to have." Alison said as she rounded the opposite corner of the hotel hallway. "I'm sorry, Pigskin, did you think I was in my room?"

"Listen Alison, this isn't high school anymore. You can't just go around screwing with peoples lives!" Paige said as she stepped towards Alison.

"Oh, but I can, Pigskin. You see, I happen to know that if your daddy found out about you and Emily, she would lose her job faster than.." Alison was cut off by a hard blow to her face, delivered by Paige.

"I'm a lot more brave now than I ever was in school." Paige said as she got on her knees to be at eye level with Alison. "And you can't blackmail me this time like you did all those years. Tell my father, I don't care anymore. I don't care what he thinks of me. Turns out that the bastard has been drugging me for years, possibly ruining my heart. But if you so much as try to hurt Emily, I swear, my fist won't be the only thing you see coming at you." With that Paige stood and grabbed Emily's hand, pulling the girl with her back to the other girls. "Lets go."

"Paige that was...so amazing!" Hannah yelled as she started patting the girls back.

"This isn't over!" Alison yelled as she picked herself up off the floor and made her way to her room.

"What about your dad?" Aria asked the girl. "And Emily's career?"

"I will deal with my dad." Paige said as she turned to Emily. "This will not get back to you, I promise. My father knows about Alison. Knows what she did to me all those years ago. Let me deal with it." When Paige finished speaking Emily pulled her into a deep kiss.

"Fuck yea!" Hannah yelled as she threw a fist in the air. Hotel guests passing by just stared at the group. "What, never saw two lesbians making out before?"

"For once, Han, I am not even going to scold you." Spencer said as she smiled at the two girls.

"Your all sweaty." Emily laughed as she put her forehead to Paige's when they broke apart.

"Just a little fired up I guess." Paige said.

"Your a little hot too." Emily said.

"Hmmm, your not too bad yourself." Paige said as she kissed Emily's lips again.

"No, Paige, I mean I think you are getting sick. Lets get you back to my place." Emily said as the group made their way to Spencer's vehicle.

"Emily, I honestly think it was just a panic attack. There is no need to worry." Paige said. By the time they had gotten back to the house, the girl was clearly exhausted.

"All I am saying is, your dad had you taking steriods and you pretty much have quit cold turkey. There is no reason why we shouldn't get you to a doctor for a quick check up." Emily said as she sat down on the couch beside Paige.

"Or, you know, we can go upstairs and play nurse." Paige said as she wiggled her eyebrows.

"Gross, guys, were still in the room." Aria said as she turned the Tv louder.

"Go some where else then." Emily said. "Actually, I am going to go get a shower and get started on dinner."

"That sounds like a good idea." Spencer said as she headed for her room to get cleaned up.

"How is the hand?" Hannah asked Paige.

"A little sore." Paige admitted now that Emily was out of ear shot.

"And everything else?" Aria asked. "Emily told us what your dad had been doing to you. Pumping you up on steriods to get to the Olympics. It is dangerous to stop any drug cold turkey."

"I am fine. Just been feeling run down since I got here." Paige admitted to the two girls.

"Emily is very important to us, you can't hurt her Paige. You have to take care of yourself." Hannah said seriously.

"I am. I will let you know as soon as something feels wrong." Paige admitted. The three girls settled into watching a movie, but Paige's attention was drawn away from the Tv as Emily made her way down the stairs, making eye contact with Paige before rounding the turn into the kitchen. Paige made her way into the kitchen, stopping and leaning against the wall to watch Emily.

"You know, you don't have to stand there and be all creepy." Emily said without turning around.

"I could have just as easily been Hannah." Paige said as she walked over and wrapped her arms around Emily's waist.

"Hannah walks loudly though. Like a horse trotting." Emily said making both girls laugh.

"I want to take you out. Like a proper date." Paige said, kissing Emily's shoulder.

"But we already had sex." Emily said.

"Doesn't count. I don't remember." Paige stated as she bit at Emily's neck with each sentence.

"But it was the most amazing sex I have ever had." Emily said, teasing Paige, causing the girl to bite harder on her neck in protest. "The way you worked your tongue over..." Paige bit on Emily's shoulder, hard enough to leave a welt. "Ok, no more teasing." Paige kissed the mark that she had left, excited to see what it would look like in the morning, knowing that she had left it.

"I want, what I will remember, to be amazing." Paige admitted with a slight blush.

"You are so cute." Emily said as she turned in Paige's arms and threw her hands around the girls neck, pulling her in for a kiss.

"So, will you go out with me?" Paige asked as Emily's forehead made contact with her own.

"Of course I will." Emily said as she turned to finish making dinner. Dinner went smoothly, Hannah making them all laugh with stories of her office pranks. She told them about the guy that she had met that worked in their tech department and how they had been on a couple dates. Spencer told them about a cop she met that had pulled her over, about how they ran into each other the next day at a coffee shop and he asked for her number. Aria talked about her boyfriend of three years, Ezra and how she hoped that he would be asking her to marry him soon. By the time everything was cleaned up and three bottles of wine had been drank between all the girls but Paige and Emily, everyone made their way to their rooms.

"Seriously?" Emily said as Paige turned to go into her room.

"What?" Paige asked.

"You are going to go sleep in your room?" Emily stared at the girl.

"Yes. I told you, proper date first." Paige said with a wink.

"Fine, but I am not happy with this." Emily was pulled away from her door by Paige, who pulled her into a passionate kiss. "Less angry." Emily said as Paige pulled away. Paige kissed Emily again, pushing the girl against her door. "Ok, you can't do that and then go sleep in your own room."

"Too bad Fields, because that is what just happened." Paige said as she closed her door to Emily, waiting at her door for a few minutes, not hearing Emily's door open or close. She gave up and made her way to her bed. Pulling her phone out of her pocket she saw that she had a few missed calls from her father and two texts from him. She opened the messages, both of them telling Paige they needed to talk soon. She plugged her phone in and stripped out of her shirt and pants, climbing into her bed. After a few minutes she decided to turn her window fan on since she was far too hot.

She layed there and thought about how she was going to deal with her father, finally coming to a solution after twenty minutes of thinking. Her head hurt and her heart was pounding in her chest, causing her to sweat more than she ever had. She sat up in the bed and leaned back against the headrest. This didn't feel like any panic attack she had ever had. She got out of the bed, feeling light headed and made her way towards Emily's room. She made her way to Emily's bed and crawled in beside her, laying so that she was cuddled behind Emily, pulling the girl close to her.

"I knew you wouldn't stay away." Emily whispered. "Paige?" Emily questioned. After not getting a response from the girl, Emily rolled over.

"Something is wrong Emily." Paige finally whispered before rolling onto her back and breathing heavily. Emily got up and threw clothes on before turning her light on and coming back to Paige. She could see the girl was upset. Sweat ran down her face and her breathing was all wrong. Emily helped Paige get shorts and a tank on before running to Spencer's room to get help.

"Spencer! Get up, we need to go to the hospital!" She yelled as she threw the bedroom door open.


	10. Chapter 10

_Emily threw her suitcase in the back of her car and climbed in. She had no idea what she was going to do. Where she was going to go. She pulled her phone out of her jacket pocket and dialed Spencer's number._

_"Hello." Spencer said at the third ring. "Thought you would be in the water by now?"_

_"Spence." Emily said as her voice broke._

_"What's wrong?" Spencer said with concern when she heard Emily' voice break._

_"Can I come to your house?" Emily asked._

_"You know you don't have to ask me that." Spencer said. Emily hung up her phone and was about to plug it in for the two hour drive when she felt her phone buzz. A text from Alison lighting up the screen._

'_Where are you going to go Emily? We know you are going to come crawling back, so why ruin the rest of this trip?'_

_Emily didn't respond to the text and finished plugging it in before another text poped up on the screen._

'_No one will EVER love you like I do.'_

_Emily put her car in drive and took off out of the parking lot. She had a new determination and was going to put this, put Alison behind her. This was her last year of school before she graduated with the degree she worked hard for. Two hours later Emily pulled her car in front of Spencer's house and saw the girl come running down the stairs. Spencer didn't say anything and took the suitcase from the back seat, looping her arm through Emily's and guiding her into the house. Once in the house Emily turned and threw herself into Spencer whispering, 'it's over' to give the girl some kind of answer._

_"You will stay here with me. I have that extra room since Brenda transferred schools for the last semester. Hannah, Aria and I will go over there tonight and get your things. You don't have to go." Spencer said. Emily pulled back and looked at her, no tears in her eyes, just a determination that Spencer hadn't seen in Emily since she stopped swimming._

_"I am going to go with you. I am tired of her hold she has on me. I am getting out. And that starts with getting all my things back." Emily said._

_Later that night Emily was looking around the spare room in Spencer's apartment. The little amount of things she owned sitting in the corner. She thought back to the times that Alison would convince her to throw something of hers out, saying that she had everything that Emily would need, or that they could get a new better one. The hold Alison had over Emily was disgusting. The things that Emily had given up for the girl. That wasn't love. She deserved better. Not just from someone else, but from herself. Emily vowed that night to never give up her dreams for someone else. 9 months later Emily graduated with top grades. She opened her own rehab firm for athletes that took off. Her father retired from the military and would come up on weekends to help Emily restore and rebuild the house she purchased that was on the beach._

"Em." Spencer said behind her softly. Emily was standing on the back porch looking off into the ocean. "It's time to go."

_"What? What happened?" Spencer said as she ran up the stairs behind Emily._

_"Something is wrong with Paige. I think it is her heart. Paige?" Emily said the girls name as she kneeled on the bed next to her. Paige was laying on her back with her eyes closed tightly. Her face displaying that she was in pain._

_"Hmmm?" The girl made no movement as she hummed a response to Emily._

_"Spencer is here, we are going to get you to a hospital, ok?" Emily said as she looked to Spence. Getting no response from Paige, Spencer scooped the girl up and carried her to her Range Rover. Emily crawled in the back and Spencer layed Paige so that her head was in Emily's lap. Spencer ran back into the house to tell the other girls where they were going and that they should meet them at the hospital. Running back to the car, Spencer began the drive to the hospital._

_"You know, the first time I saw you, sleeping in that hospital bed, I still thought you were the most beautiful person I had ever seen. And then you looked at me with those big brown eyes. I know it is cliche, but I melted. Then you spoke. Your voice was strong and your words were determined. You knew what you wanted, and you fought for it. But I am so glad that you gave in and came with me." Emily paused as Paige opened her eyes and looked up at Emily, a small smile on her face._

_"I knew I wanted to go with you before I stopped fighting it." Paige whispered out with a smirk before closing her eyes again and listening to Emily._

_"Well I am glad that you did. I have never felt attached to someone like I do with you. Not even Alison." She felt Paige flinch at the girls name. She moved her hand down so she could run a finger along a particular scar on Paige's leg. "You are beautiful. No matter what she says about you. She doesn't get to define you Paige. I worked hard to get away from her, to walk away from her. Trust me, she isn't important." Emily bent down and kissed Paige once on the lips, nose and forehead, causing the girl below her to let out a small laugh. The car stops and Paige runs into the ER bay. A few seconds later she runs back out with a nurse and doctor following her, the nurse pushing a bed their way._

_The doctor pulled Paige away from Emily, leaving the girl feeling empty as she crawled out of the car and followed the group inside. Emily and Spencer stood outside of Paige's room and watched as the doctors began to work on Paige, Spencer telling Emily what they were doing to Paige as they worked._

_"They will start with an EKG and start and IV to give her clot-busting medication. That is a catheter they are putting in her leg so they can evaluate her heart functions to see what else they need to do."_

_"Spence, what is it?" Emily asked, afraid of the answer. _

_"A heart attack." Spencer said. "They are trying to see how damaging it is. We don't have to stay here and watch."_

_"I'm not going." Emily said, never taking her eyes off of Paige's face. Two hours later the doctors and nurses stepped out of the room, taking off their dirty gowns before going to the girls standing at the window._

_"How is she?" Spencer asked._

_"Definitely a fighter. Most people in that kind of pain make some sort of communication that they hurt. We had an older gentleman last week that was screaming and crying." Emily didn't wait to hear the rest of the doctors story, knowing that she wouldn't understand his medical terms anyway, Spencer would fill her in. She made her way to the door of Paige's room instead of staying. She walked to the edge of Paige's bed and grabbed the hand that wasn't hooked up to any machines. She bent down and kissed the girls forehead, breathing in the scent of Paige's skin, moving her head up so she could smell her hair. She left her nose there until she felt the girl below her stir._

_"I'm all sweaty." Paige mumbled out._

_"You still smell good." Emily said against the girls skin before pulling back and looking at Paige. The girl had lost some color in her skin and she had dark circles under her eyes. She ran her hand down Paige's face, cupping her chin and lifting her face up so she could kiss her lips. "I never thought I would feel like this about anyone again. She broke me too. But I am hoping I just found something that will fix me."_

_"I am going to try." Paige said as she closed her eyes again, falling asleep thanks to the pain medication they had given her earlier._

_"So their going to move her up a floor in about an hour and monitor her. She did have a serious heart attack. They have to go in and do a coronary artery bypass graft. Their going to graft a healthy artery onto the blocked one." Spencer said, still standing in the doorway to give the two some sort of privacy._

_"Spencer, that sounds more serious then you are letting on." Emily said as she ran her hand through Paige's hair. She began to think back to that day on the beach before Alison interrupted them. When Paige had pretty much collapsed on the sand, breathing heavy. Was this a sign that Emily missed?_

_"It is serious. But she is in good hands here Em." Spencer said calmly. "I am going to go see where Hannah and Aria are and where her room will be. Then we are going to go home, get food and a shower and come back here. No protesting." Spencer turned and left before Emily could._

_"You have to do what she says. I will be here when you get back." Paige said. Emily kissed her on the lips twenty minutes later before going with Spencer and heading back to the house._

"How is she?" Aria asked as she looked out the window at Emily, who was standing on the deck looking at the ocean.

"She is strong. The doctors..." Aria cut Spencer off.

"I ment Emily." She said.

"Broken. She has fallen hard for Paige. I know she loves her. Even though it has only been a few days." Spencer said.

"Paige would be a welcomed change from Alison. I already like her." Hannah said from her spot on a chair in the kitchen.

"What do we do if something happens to Paige?" Aria asked. Before Spencer could answer her cellphone rang. The screen showed that it was the hospital.

"Hello? Yes, this is her. Ok. Yes, we will be right there." Spencer hung up the phone and moved to the door. "Something has happened, I need to get Emily to the hospital." She opened the door and stepped out quietly.

"Em. It's time to go." Spencer said.

"I'm scared Spence. I don't want to lose her." Emily admitted, looking out at the ocean.

"I know babe." Spencer said as she wrapped an arm around Emily. "But something has happened, and we need to get to her now." The two ran to the car and headed back to the hospital, to Paige.


	11. Chapter 11

_"I'm fine, dad." Emily said to Wayne Fields. It had been a year and a half since since Emily walked away from Alison. When Emily didn't have a client she was working with, or one staying at the house, she usually kept to herself. Her parents and the girls would try to visit her as often as possible. This was one of the cases that her father was at her house, they were working on her mustang, something had broken on it a few days ago._

_"I know you are. You say you are every time I ask you. But I know that you are lieing. Ever since you came out to your mother and me, you have had a girlfriend." Wayne said._

_"Maybe it is time for me to be alone for a little while." Emily responded. _

_"Not for this long." Wayne yelled. "I am just worried about you, Em." He said, calmer._

_"I know, dad. But I really loved Ali. I thought we were going to be together for the rest of our lives." Emily admitted. She could always talk to her father so easy about these things._

_"She undermined you. That is not love. You deserve to be with someone that treats you like you are their whole world, that would do anything to make you happy." Wayne said as he cupped Emily's face so she would look at him._

_"I know, I just need some time." Emily said._

_"How long? I am afraid to leave you." Wayne said._

_"Until I feel like my world isn't falling apart around me." Emily said as a tear ran down her cheek. "I need to go get the guest rooms ready. I have a client staying with me for a few weeks, coming home with me tomorrow. She is training for the Olympic swim team, apparently passed out in the pool." Emily busied herself to try to stop the tears. The truth was, was that she did feel alone. Ever since she left Alison she felt like she couldn't trust anyone to not hurt her. Meaningless one night stands was all she had had for a year and a half._

_"And the girls will be up with you next week?" Wayne asked._

_"Yes dad. But I really need to get ready for this client. And mom is expecting you home in a few hours." Emily and her father said their goodbyes and she watched from the front porch as her father drove away. Emily turned and walked into her house, completely alone. For the first three months that she had left Alison, her phone rang non stop. At first it was the girl trying to win her back. Then it was her parents and the girls. Now the phone hardly rang, except when someone was planning on stopping by or when work called. She knew that things had to change_.

Emily was brought out of her thoughts by Spencer touching her hand. She looked from Spencer to the window, seeing that they were at the hospital.

"What exactly did they say on the phone, Spence?" Emily asked softly.

"That they couldn't get her heart rate to slow down. Their worried that it is going to cause another heart attack." Spencer said.

"Let's get in there then." Emily said. The two made their way into the hospital and took the elevator to Paige's floor. Spencer stopped at the nurses desk to get some information while Emily walked to the girls room, standing in front of the window to look at the girl. Through the window she could see that Paige had wires attached to her chest, running to machines that were beeping wildly beside her. "So what are they going to do?" Emily asked Spencer.

"Nothing." Emily turned at the deep voice. "Well not nothing. Were going to continue with her medication, but it is what you are going to do. Her heart rate went up the moment you left her room. We are hoping you can get it to go back down, at least until she wakes up. She hasn't been awake since it went up. So get in there." The doctor pointed to the door to her room. Emily walked into the girls room and went to her bed, grabbing her hand and sitting on the bed beside the girl.

"I haven't been in a relationship for a year and a half. Which is probably less time than you, with all your training. But my reason isn't because I am busy. I actually have more free time than I should. I don't trust easily. Alison ruined how I look at people. I used to trust everyone right off the bat, but now. Now I am guarded. I usually don't let people in right away. But with you... it was easy and felt natural. So that is why I need you to wake up and walk out of this hospital." Emily leaned down and kissed Paige on the lips. Paige's heart monitor beeped loud once and showed that the girls heart rate was slowly going down to a normal pace. Emily leaned in again and kissed her lips, forehead and each eyelid until she felt the girls lids flutter open against her lips. She pulled back and looked into the eyes she had started falling for. "Hi."

"Kiss me again." Was all Paige said before Emily leaned in and brushed her lips against hers. "Hi." She said once Emily pulled back. They were both broken from their starring when the door behind them was thrown open. Standing in the door between the two women was a furious looking Nick McCuller's. "Dad?"

"Get out." The man said, looking towards Emily. "Get out of this room!" Emily moved to stand up but Paige grabbed her hand, stilling her movements.

"She stays." Paige said.

"She leaves, now. And she will not be continuing her 'work' with you." Nick turned and looked at Emily. "Looks like I will have to be calling the board and having a chat with your director. Patient relationships are forbidden."

"Mr. McCullers, with all due respect, I am a private practice. They can't really do anything to me anyway." Emily said back to the man.

"No, but a little bad publicity will ruin you. Using my daughter to.." Nick was saying.

"Using 'your' daughter. That is rich." Emily yelled back.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Nick question, stepping closer to Emily.

"You know damn well what it means. You are the reason she is here!" Emily yelled back.

"Guys." Paige said to deaf ears as she started to get out of the bed, reaching for Emily.

"Me?" Nick yelled back to Emily.

"Em." Paige said, grabbing the attention of the girl. Emily turned to see that Paige had a hand on her heart and was slowly heading to the floor. "Dad, leave." Paige said as Emily wrapped her arms around the girl and set them back on the bed.

"Paige I don't think now is the time for you to grow a back bone. She used you. Is using you." Nick said.

"You used me dad! You drugged me, and abused my strengths in the pool. Look at me! I am here because of you. I'm not kicking Emily out, but I do want you to leave. And I don't want you coming back." Paige said, her breathing labored.

"You are going to regret this." Nick said. Before he left he turned and looked back at Emily. "This isn't over."

"You come after me, and this gets out as well." Emily said standing up and walking to the man. "Your daughter is the best thing to happen to me in over a year. I am not going to let her homophobic father push her away from me, or destroy my life, or hers. I'm not going anywhere." Paige's heart monitors started blaring loudly causing the nurses and a doctor to come running in. Spencer, who was standing at the door listening pulled both Nick and Emily in the hallway and out of the way so the doctors could work on Paige.

"Neither of you are to go back into that room." Spencer said as she turned and went into Paige's room.


	12. Chapter 12

"How is she?" Nick said as the doctor came out of Paige's room. Emily stood up too but stood back from Nick, trying to avoid another screaming match.

"Stable for now. Ms. Hastings is in there with her, and as requested by Ms. McCullers, Nick is not allowed to enter the room." The doctor looked at her pointedly. Emily stepped forward enough for the doctor to look at her. "An Ms. Hastings says you are not allowed in the room right now either." With that he walked away.

"You can't keep me out of my daughters room." Nick followed the doctor, throwing a fit the entire time, while Emily sat back down on the bench and waited for Spencer to come out of the room. It was a full hour later before anyone made any movement in Paige's room. Spencer walked out looking for Emily.

_Spencer watched for twenty minutes as the doctors worked on Paige. She knew throwing Emily and Nick out was a good idea. Paige's blood pressure had spiked during the argument between Nick and Emily and caused the girl to go into cardiac arrest before passing out. The doctors had her stable now and wanted to do everything they could to keep Paige relaxed and comfortable. After the doctors walked out, Spencer walked over to the bed and pulled out a chair to site beside Paige's bed. _

_She looked up at the girl attached to different machines with an oxygen mask over her mouth. A far cry from the girl she once went head to head with on the field. The dark circles under her eyes making her face look somewhat hollow. Her chest rose slowlywith every breath, followed by a beep of a machine behind her. Spencer reached out to grab the girls hand and squeezed it once, hoping that Paige could feel that she was not alone._

_"You know, you used to be able to knock girls over with the bump of your shoulder. You were so intimidating on the field. Emily would have loved to see you back then. She had a thing for aggressive athletes. She needed someone like you. Three weeks before the start of senior year, her then girlfriend, Maya, was killed in a car crash. Her and the girl she was riding with were high, police said it didn't look like they had made an attempt to miss the telephone pole. Just drove into it head first. Emily had a hard time dealing with that. She drank. About 90% of the time we were with her, she was drunk. And then Alison showed up. She moved into a house a few blocks from Emily. She used her weakened state to get Emily to do whatever she wanted. I couldn't get Emily to leave her. For five years, all Alison did was control her and manipulate her. Senior year of college, Emily broke and left Alison. It was actually the hotel in the town she lives in now that she left her. She moved in with me for the rest of that year, but, she was so broken. She wouldn't speak to me about the things that were bothering her. She would just lock herself up in her room, throw herself into her studies or work. When she wasn't locked in her room, she would go out and get drunk, bring random girls home." Paige's monitor beeped loudly at this remark and Spencer swore she saw Paige shake her head side to side. "Ok, no more of that talk. Until a week ago Paige, I was so afraid that she would never be the same girl she was before Maya's accident. But then I saw the way she was with you, and I knew. I knew that somehow, she was going to be ok. That for the first time in a year and a half since Alison, she believed she could move on. I love her and I want her to be happy, Paige. And I fully support it, if you are what makes her happy. But I swear to God, if you hurt her, or you send her back into that dark place again, I will make sure you stay in this bed for the rest of your life. Emily..."_

_"Em." Spencer looks up to see that Paige had moved her mask aside with her free hand and had mumbled something. _

_"What?" Spencer asked._

_"Emily." Paige said, without opening her eyes._

_"Want me to get her?" Spencer asked, Paige nodding her head in response. _

"Spencer!" Emily jumped up as the girl was looking around for Emily.

"Hey! She is asking for you." Spencer said with a small smile. She grabbed Emily's hand as the girl made to walk past Spencer. "Be gentle with her. We can't have her blood pressure going that high again right now."

"Ok." Emily said and made her way to the door when Spencer let her go. She stopped and looked back at the girl again, getting a nod of encouragement before entering the room. It was more quite than the hallway she had been sitting in before. She made her way to the chair sitting beside Paige's bed and sat down, grabbing the hand that was laying beside the still body. She sat there silently for a few moments, just taking the appearance on the girl in.

Somehow she looked like she had lost weight since arriving at Emily's, or maybe the color of her pale skin and the dark circles made it look that way. A tear rolled down Emily's cheek as she sat looking at Paige. Even though she was sick, the girl was still the most beautiful thing Emily had ever layed eyes on, thinking back to the first time she had seen Paige, in the same position.

Movement out of the corner of her eye caused her to look up and see that Paige was moving her head side to side slightly, her eyebrows furrowed and mumbling something that Emily couldn't hear due to the oxygen mask. The beeping behind her got louder, so Emily stood and leaned over the girl, kissing her forehead and whispering, "I'm here" over and over, calming the girl down until she looked down and saw that Paige, once again, looked relaxed and comfortable.

Paige opened her eyes and looked at Emily before pulling her mask aside and speaking. "Up." Was all she said.

"What?" Emily said as she stood and helped hold the mask for the girl.

"Get up here with me." Paige whispered out, weak from the events of the day. She could feel herself falling back to sleep and wanted Emily to get up into the bed with her. She moved herself over so that there was room for Emily to lay down beside her. "Please." That was all it took for Emily to climb into the bed beside Paige. Paige immediately clung to Emily like she was a life line, afraid that Emily would leave if she let go. She buried her face into Emily's neck and breathed deeply, smelling the perfume that Paige had smelled the day Emily sent her into her room to get a swim suit. Emily layed her head on the top of Paige's, kissing the girls forehead and wrapping an arm around her waist. The two settled into a comfortable silence before Emily heard the soft air leaving Paige's lips, telling her that Paige had fallen back to sleep. It wasn't long before the beeping of the machines, that were Paige's heartbeat, lulled Emily to sleep too. This caused the two girls to miss the face looking through the window at them.

"Alison." Hannah spoke from behind the blonde, causing the girl to turn and smile wickedly at the three girls standing before her."Why are you here?"

"I have come back for what is mine." Alison said matter of factly.

"And that would be?" Aria asked the girl.

"Emily." Alison stated, walking away from Hannah, Aria and Spencer before the girls could say any more. Alison walked right over to Nick McCullers and started speaking to him, but the girls could not hear what she was saying. Judging by Nick McCullers face, it was nothing that they wanted him to hear.


	13. Chapter 13

"Why would Emily want to go back to you in the first place?" Hannah all but shouted as she walked over towards Alison and Nick.

"Because I am the only one that ever loved her." Alison stated, matter of factly.

"Your idea of love, is complete bullshit Alison." Aria said before anyone else could retort.

"Oh, please. I treated her the way she deserved." Alison said.

"You treated me horribly." Everyone turned to see Emily standing at Paige's door, glaring at the blonde girl. "You lied, manipulated and cheated on me. I know about the guy you slept with two days before we left for the beach. He came to me about a week after I was at Spencer's and told me. He actually felt bad. You never felt bad, about anything. That isn't love. It took me a year and a half and someone special to figure that out. So no, I would never want to get back with you. And you." Emily turned and directed her next comments towards Nick McCullers. "That girl in there, your daughter, all she ever wanted to do was please you. She had worked her ass off for you, and how do you repay her? You undermined her confidence and gave her performance enhancing drugs. Now, thanks to you, she is in there fighting for her life. She told me all about your deal, and how you pushed her to take the drugs, practically blackmailing her. You have ruined her shot. I don't know how you can live with yourself. I've only known her a few days and I already think she is the best person I have ever met. You can do whatever you want to ruin my career, I don't care. Your daughter means more to me than that. Unlike you two, I'm going to show her what real love is." Emily turned and walked back into Paige's room, leaving Alison and Nick standing with their mouths hanging open.

"If I were you, Nick, I would start looking for a very good lawyer." Spencer said to the man.

"And Alison, I would just leave town now before you get too settled in." Hannah said, the three girls forming a wall between the two and Paige's door. Nick and Alison both turned and walked down the hallway out of sight. The three girls made themselves comfortable in the lounge beside Paige's room, none of them wanting to leave for the night. The next morning Emily was woken by movements beside her. Her eyes flew open fearing that Alison or Nick were in the room, but it was just Paige's nurse checking her vitals.

"Good morning. I am Susan, I will be checking in on her today. The doctor ordered her pain medicine to be lowered today so she can be more alert, and hopefully she will be able to tell us how she is feeling as soon as she wakes.

"Thank you." Emily said to the woman before she left the room to check on her other patients, letting Emily know she would be back within an hour to see Paige.

"Someone special, huh?" Emily turned to see Spencer in the doorway.

"Shut up." Emily said as she crawled out of the bed from Paige to go brush her teeth.

"I have waited a long time for you to say something like that to Alison." Spencer said with a smirk on her face. "And it took you long enough to find someone special."

"I really do care for her Spence." Emily admitted.

"I know you do babe." Spencer said as she pulled Emily into a hug. "And I think she is a keeper." Spencer whispered into her ear.

"Emily?" Came a voice from the other room pulling Emily away from Spencer.

"Hey." Emily said as she made her way to the side of the bed. "Spencer, go tell the nurse that she is up. They lowered your medicine so you would be more alert today, but don't hesitate to tell them if you are hurting, ok?" Paige nodded her head, pulling at her oxygen mask again. "Lets keep this on until the nurse comes in." Emily said as she adjusted the mask so it was directly over Paige's mouth again.

"And, how is Paige feeling today?" The nurse asked as she entered the room a few moments later, puling off Paige's oxygen mask and turning the machine off.

"A little short of breath." Paige said to the woman, never taking her eyes off of Emily as the girl stepped back to give the nurse room.

"We will keep the oxygen here at your side for right now, if that feeling is too strong and you actually have trouble breathing, don't hesitate to put it back on. Now, lets see how you feel if we lift the bed up so you can sit." The nurse moved the bed so that Paige was sitting up for the first time since leaving the house two days ago. "How does that feel?"

"Good. My back was getting a little sore." Paige said as she tried to wiggle and adjust to the new position.

"That is to be expected. Now, who will be taking care of you for the next few weeks?" The nurse asked.

"Me." Emily spoke and stepped closer to the bed before Paige could say anything.

"Ok, good. Now she can go home tomorrow if there is no excitement today." The nurse turned and winked at Paige, causing the girl to laugh at her. "But, she will need to take it extremely easy. No jogging, running, swimming. No stairs. No physical activity, meaning sex. Nothing that can get her blood pressure too high. We don't need you back here having another heart attack before the medicine has been given time to work. You can basically go home and sit. Watch some Tv. Nothing too exciting for the first few days."

"Oh what joy that will be." Paige mumbled out.

"I will be back in a few to see how we are still doing." Susan left the two girls alone.

"Now I really am on house arrest." Paige said looking at Emily with a light pout on her lips.

"Home." Emily said.

"What?" Paige asked.

"She said you get to go home, and sit. I like the sound of that. You coming home." Emily said as she took one of Paige's hands in hers.

"Are we moving too fast?" Paige asked, causing Emily to slip a little. "No, that I think were moving too fast. I have waited too long for someone like you, I am not about to just let that slow build." Paige said with a small laugh. Without thinking Emily dove in so that her lips were on Paige's, her tongue swiping across the girls lower lip, her mouth opening to grant Emily entrance. A moan from Paige and a loud beep from behind them broke the girls apart.

"I said no physical activity. Making out would count." Susan said from behind the girls. "Ms. Fields, I would hate to have to remove you." She laughed.

"That would kill me." Paige joked making Emily go stiff beside her. "Hey."

"I just got you." Emily said as she ran her hand down the side of Paige's face, cupping her chin. "And I don't even want to joke about how this could have gone wrong."

"Ok, no more death jokes." Paige said as she pulled the girl down beside her. "Lets just lay here for awhile until I go to sleep. Then, I need you to go home and rest some too."

"No. I'm not leaving until you do too." Emily protested before Paige raised her finger to her lips. "I need you to get me some sweats while you are there to go home in. You can get a nap and a shower, because you stink." Emily stuck her tongue out at her. "And you need to eat."

"I'm supposed to take care of you." Emily said as she settled Paige's bed back and layed down beside her.

"Well, now we can take care of each other." Paige said as she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

Emily did as she was told and made her way to the waiting room to get the girls. Spencer offered to stay with Paige while Emily went home, which made Emily feel better about leaving Paige at the hospital. When she got home she layed down in her bed tossed and turned. After about twenty minutes Emily got out of her bed and made her way to Paige's room, laying down on the girls pillow and inhaling her scent. This helped Emily fall asleep for a good two hours. In that time Aria and Hannah had managed to move Emily's bed fittings down to the room Aria was sleeping in, and moved Aria's stuff to Emily's room. When Emily got up she made her way to the shower and changed into comfortable clothes to spend the night with Paige again, grabbing sweats, a sports bra and underwear for the girl too. With a bag packed they all climbed back into Aria's car and made their way to the hospital.

A/N: A few more chapters left in this and then one or two left of Secod Chances. THEN I will start back into the Awakening stories, since I know a lot of people are wanting that. I just wanted to get these stories done and out of the way so I could focus solely on my baby. which is the Awakening stories. As always, reviews help the process move along smoothly, and they are much appreciated!


	14. Chapter 14

The car ride back to Emily's house was silent. Paige sat in the back with Emily, the other girls head resting on her shoulder, their fingers entwined. Spencer sat on the other side of Emily and Hannah and Aria were in the front. Paige had her eyes closed and her face buried in Emily's hair. Out of the corner of her eye Spencer kept a close eye on the girl. The doctor gave them instructions that they were to keep Paige's heart rate down and have her rest until her next check up. And Spencer knew that the athlete, like herself, would have a hard time just slowing down from her normal fast pace training. When they arrived at the house everyone got out of the car and started to busy themselves with trying to help Paige.

"Ok. Ok. Everyone stop." The girls stopped moving around the car and stood in front of Paige. "I don't need everyone fussing over me right now. I know I am going to need help, but I don't want to upset your vacation." Looking at Hannah, Aria and Spencer. "You girls came up here to be with Emily and spend time at the beach. Don't let this change that." Paige turned and took Emily's hands in her own. "And Emily, please be with them. I will get you when I need you, but right now I just want to go lay down. So go with them. Drink, hang out, do whatever it is you guys all do together, just, don't hold back because of me." Paige kissed Emily on the lips before turning and heading to the front door.

"Paige?" Aria yelled.

"No protesting." Paige said as she turned back to the girls.

"No." Aria said with a laugh. "Hannah and I moved your stuff down to my room and my stuff to yours. Figured you wouldn't want to do the stairs when you got home, so we switched."

"Thank you." Paige said as she disappeared inside the house.

"Bossy." Hannah whispered.

"So hot." Emily whispered back. "Ok, this is going to be harder than I thought." Emily said as she turned back to the girls.

"What is?" Spencer asked.

"Not being able to be with her. Like 'with' with her." Emily said using her fingers to air quote her words.

"Ok, you are not some horny teenage boy here Emily. I think you can wait a few weeks to bang her." Hannah said.

"Hannah!" Aria said slapping the blonde's arm.

"What? That is what she is thinking about doing. And what lesbian or guy wouldn't want to? You saw Paige in her swim suit, she has a hot body." Hannah said matter of factly.

"Do I need to worry about you sneaking into her room at night?" Emily said with a laugh, causing the other girls to crack up.

"Ok, lets do what the girl requested and go lay on the beach with some wine." Spencer said pulling Emily towards the house. An hour later the girls were laying on the beach, a bottle of wine down and carrying on from their spots on their towels. Paige walked out onto the back porch and stood listening to the girls talking and laughing. She listened close to how Emily was laughing, worry and care free. She loved the girls laugh. She couldn't get enough of it. She started walking towards the girls and when she was close enough to say something all she could do was clear her throat. The four girls turned around and immediately began laughing. Aria climbed off her blanket beside Emily and moved over towards Spencer so that Paige could lay down beside Emily. The three other girls slowly got up and grabbed their blankets, walking back to the house to start dinner. Emily threw her arm over Paige's stomach and buried her face in the girls neck.

"This will leave an awful sunburn." Paige said as she ran her hands up Emily's arm, earning a giggle from the girl. "It is going to be a rough few weeks from here on out, but I think if I keep you drunk, it will be more tolerable."

"I am not drunk actually." Emily leaned up to hover over Paige. "I am always in a good mood when the girls are around. And, good wine helps."

"Just the wine?" Paige teased, leaning up to steal a kiss from Emily.

"Hmmm, maybe there was the fact that I had this gorgeous girl sleeping in my house." Emily leaned down and gave Paige a quick kiss before standing and holding her hand down to help Paige up. "How about we go for a short walk? You just tell me when you want to stop." Paige nodded a looped her arm through Emily's as the two walked along the beach. They didn't get very far before Paige decided it was far enough for her. Emily walked Paige to the porch before she turned to get her blanket off the sand.

"Show up as soon as the work is done." Hannah groaned as the two walked into the house.

"A small meal is a small price to pay for staying at a beach front house for a week, for free." Emily said as she winked at Hannah, causing the girl to stick her tongue out at Emily. Paige stood behind Emily with her arms around her waist and her head on her shoulder.

"You two are cute." Hannah said pointing between them. "But get out of the kitchen until we are done dinner. Go lay down, we will come get you when it is ready." Emily nodded and pulled Paige with her to her downstairs room.

"No making out." Paige said laughing as Emily cuddled into her as they lay on the bed together.

"No making out." Emily nodded. "This is going to suck." Emily said as Paige giggled.

"Look at it this way, now we can do all the things most people do before they sleep together, like get to know each other." Paige said as she laughed. A knock at the door broke the girls conversation.

"Paige, your dad is out at the front door." Spencer said as she walked away from the door.


	15. Chapter 15

"No. We will just ignore him. Or we can send Spencer out there to send him away." Emily pulled Paige back down to her when the girl went to get out of bed.

"As funny as it would be to watch my dad shrink under Spencer's stern gaze, I have to deal with him." Paige said, looking down at Emily.

"Not three days after you had a heart attack!" Emily practically yelled, rolling so that her back was to Paige.

"Hey." Paige said as she layed down behind Emily, pulling the girl so that her back was flush with Paige's front. Paige put her hand under Emily's shirt and ran her fingers along the bare skin she found, causing Emily to get goose bumps where ever Paige touched.

"Were not supposed to be doing that." Emily mumbled.

"I can't even touch you? I will not allow that." Paige said, causing the girl under her to giggle. "And I am not going to allow my father to ruin this, us." Paige said as she kissed Emily's shoulder. Emily rolled over so that she was under Paige, her hand never leaving Emily's stomach.

"I don't want you to get into a fight with him, that will make your blood pressure rise and make.." She was cut off by Paige kissing her.

"I am just going to go tell him to leave." Paige stated.

"Then let Spencer do it." Emily said.

"I have to stand up to him Em." A smile broke out on Emily's face when Paige finished speaking.

"That is the first time you called me that." Emily said as she bent her neck up to kiss Paige.

"I will go ask him to leave and be right back." Paige said as she kissed the girl one last time and left.

"Come get me if you need me to kick his ass." Spencer said with a smirk when Paige walked to the front door.

"Oh, you would be the first person I would get." Paige winked as she opened the door to reveal Nick McCullers standing there with his arms crossed over his chest. "Father." Paige acknowledged him.

"Get your things, were leaving." Nick said.

"I'm not going. So if that is why you came here, you might as well go home." Paige said, steeling herself for the fight that was going to come.

"This is ridiculous Paige! You just met her." Nick yelled.

"What's ridiculous is that she is treating a million times better than you or mom ever did!" Paige shot back.

"Don't drag your mother into this, it has nothing to do with her. You are coming home with me right now." Nick said.

"Home? Is that some sort of a joke? We haven't had a home for the past ten years." Paige said.

"And who's fault is that? You were the one that broke her heart Paige." Nick said with anger in his voice.

"Me? Because I was tired of lieing to everyone? I'm gay dad! I was gay back then too! And guess what? I am going to be gay until the day that I die. I'm sorry if you and mom can't deal with that, but I am not hiding who I am so that you can be happy. I have been so fucking miserable for the past ten years of my life. There were times that I wanted to drown in that pool! That I didn't want to be in this world anymore, and it was your fault! But I am happy. For the first time in so long, I am happy. And I am not going to be miserable for you anymore! I don't know how this is going to work out, I pray that this will, but I refuse to have those dark thoughts again." Tears were rolling down Paige's face as she finished yelling at her father. She waited for what felt like years for him to reply, and when he didn't she turned to walk towards the front door.

"I hope it does too." Paige heard from behind her when she turned the handle. "I hope it works out too. As much as I object this, hate that you are gay, I only want you to be happy Paige. So I hope this works out too, but I can't be a part of it." Paige watched as her father got into his car and drove away without looking back. Opening the door she was hit with a warmth she hadn't felt in a long time, but as she closed the door she felt as if her breath was leaving her.

"Paige?" She heard Spencer say from the kitchen.

"Yea, I just need a minute." Paige said as she made her way to the back deck.

"Emily? Are you ok?" Spencer asked as the girl walked into the kitchen tears falling from her eyes.

"Where is she?" Emily asked as she looked around for Paige. Spencer pointed to the back door, which Emily walked too and stepped out quietly. She saw Paige sitting on the low railing of the porch, her bare feet in the sand and her hands holding the railing. Paige was looking out towards the ocean, deep in thought as tears slipped down her face. Emily walked over to Paige and hugged her from behind, head resting on her shoulder, arms wrapped tightly around her. "That was intense."

"You heard?" Paige whispered, fighting back more tears at the thought of Emily hearing things from her past.

"The bedroom window was open." Emily turned her head and kissed the side of Paige's before using one hand to turn Paige's face towards hers. "You are so beautiful Paige McCullers. And I cannot wait to get to know you. But I know were are going to work out, because I already love you. I love what I know, and I love what I am going to know. I love you." Emily said as tears ran down her face, matching the ones leaving Paige's eyes. Paige turned in the girls arms and slammed their lips together as she pulled Emily over the railing and into her arms.

"I love you too." Paige said as they broke apart, looking into each others eyes. "Were crazy, right?" Paige said, causing Emily to chuckle.

"Are you happy?" Emily asked, already knowing the answer.

"Extremely." Paige answered.

"I am too. So what if that makes us crazy, at least we can be crazy together." Emily said as she kissed Paige. A beeping from Paige's wrist broke the two apart.

"Heart monitor." Paige mumbled into Emily's lips. "Courtesy of Spencer."

"Ignore it." Emily said as Paige pulled her closer and slid her tongue along Emily's lips. The beeping grew louder and quicker and made Emily pull back from the girl, causing Paige to groan loudly like a little kid being punished.

"This is going to suck!" Paige grumbled as her fingers played with the front hem of Emily's shirt. Emily used her finger to tilt Paige's face to hers and kissed her once on the lips.

"If it means you getting healthy, then I am willing to wait." Emily said as she pulled Paige in for a hug. "But when you are cleared for activity, I am going to tear you apart." Emily whispered into her ear, biting it lightly before turning back towards the house.

"What did you do to her?" Hannah asked as she looked out the door at Paige, standing in the sand.

"Nothing." Emily said as she walked through the door. Just then Paige snapped back into action and walked towards the house, moving past the girls and grabbing Emily's hand and pulling the squealing girl towards her room. "Paige." Emily whined as Paige pulled her towards the bed, her wrist beeping loudly. "We can't do anything." She protested as she stopped in her tracks and turned to face a pouting Paige.

"Ugh, you can't just say something like that and expect me not to react." Paige said with a pout to her lips.

"So. Damn. Cute." Emily said as she kissed Paige's lips after each word. At that Paige yawned and made a move towards the bed. "No, no. No sleeping yet. How about we go take a bath? We can't fool around, but we can relax together." Emily suggested.

"I think I would really like that." Paige said as she started towards the bathroom, stripping along the way. Before she reached the door, she was down to just her bra and matching lacy underwear. She turned back to see that Emily had her eyes focused on Paige's ass. "You coming?" Paige winked at Emily before entering the bathroom. Emily followed Paige into the bathroom, stopping in the doorway when she saw Paige standing braless looking into the mirror, her hand cover a spot above her chest.

"What's wrong?" Emily said, seeing the worried look in Paige's eyes.

"I can't get this wet." Paige said as she moved her hand to reveal a nasty looking pucker mark above her left breast. It had dried blood around the stitches and was bruised a deep purplish blue.

"The doctor gave me covers for it for when you take baths." Emily said, snapping back into action. This was the first time that she had seen the marks an Paige's chest, and it shocked her that it was so bruised. "They told me how to clean it too let me do that before we get in." Emily began the task of cleaning up the skin around the stitches, moving extra careful after Paige made a hissing sound at the alcohol rubs touching the wound.

"This was supposed to be sexy." Paige said as she felt tears coming to her eyes again.

"Hey, this is still sexy. You are after all, naked." Emily said as she winked at Paige. She leaned up and kissed the girls lips to reassure her. After applying the clear cover to Paige's chest she instructed the girl to get in the tub of warm bubble filled water. Emily watched as Paige pretty much fell asleep as soon as her back hit the tub and her head rested back. Emily went to the closet and got a cup and walked back to the tub, grabbing her shampoo. She kneeled beside the tub and used one hand to tilt Paige's head back enough so that she could use the other hand and cup to let water run down her hair.

"I thought you were getting in her with me?" Paige mumbled, although she did not open her eyes or protest Emily washing her hair.

"How about we just get you cleaned up and then cuddle in bed until the girls get supper ready?" After a soft mumble from Paige, Emily continued to wash the girls hair. She then cleaned the rest of Paige off, taking extra care around the bandage on her chest. She helped Paige out of the tub and dried her off before helping the girl get under the covers of the bed.

"No pjs?" Paige asked with a smile.

"No pjs." Emily said as she stripped out of her clothes and climbed into the bed so that she was laying behind Paige, wrapping her naked body around Paige's. She told Paige a few stories from her childhood before the girl had fallen asleep in her arms. Emily couldn't wait until next week when the girl would get her stitches removed and have her first check up, she wanted to show Paige how much she loved her, she wanted to be physically close to Paige again.


	16. Chapter 16

"Were you really having a panic attack that day? The first day I met you, you said it was a panic attack." Emily chose her words carefully, but Paige caught on.

"That is really what it was. Is this because of what I said to my father earlier? About not being happy and having dark thoughts?" Paige asked. Emily woke Paige up about fourty minutes after she fell asleep and helped her get dressed. The two were now laying on top of the covers talking.

"Yes. Did all of this start around the time Alison came into your life?" Emily asked after she put her fingers on the side of Paige's thigh, feeling the scars through the flannel bottoms.

"Alison pointed out my flaws. Fed me the things I needed to hear to tear myself down. No one can my you feel like shit, make you want to hurt yourself, more than yourself." Paige said sadly.

"Tell me about them." Emily said as she continued running her hand over the scars.

"I don't think that is a good idea." Paige said quietly.

"I want to know. I want to know what you were thinking when you did it. What triggered it to happen." Emily said. Paige thought back on those times. She moved Emily's hand to a particular scar on the side og her leg, beginning a story.

_Fifteen year old Paige was running through the woods. She had just left school, another day that she was forved to live through. Alison was making her life hell. The snide comments in the hallways at school. "Bumping" into her enough to knock the books she was holding all over the floor. Paige was so deep in thought that she didn't even see the tree she ran into, knocking her down onto rocks, cutting at her thigh. Watching the blood run from the cut had a scary calming feeling to her. She ran her hand through it, still warm. Getting up, she ran to her house to clean it up, not stopping when her mother asked about her day._

_Entering her room Paige locked the door after shutting it and walked across to enter her bathroom. she looked down and noticed that the blood had stopped coming out of the cut, a small pool of blood left at the bottom. Reaching down with an alcohol wipe she hissed at the burning she felt when it touched the open parts. Slowly the feeling began to numb, and Paige was scared that she felt that she missed the sting. She cleaned the rest of it and put a band-aid over it just in case and made her way back into her room to start her homework._

_The next day during gym class, Alison started in on Paige again. Throwing the basketball so that it bounced and hit the girl in the head, making all the classmates there laugh at the girl and tease her the rest of the time. In the locker room, the girl didn't let up. Paige had to take her shower caddy into the stall with her to hide her tears so Alison wouldn't have more ammo to use against her. A few girls walking by her shower stall were talking about Paige possibly being gay, not knowing the girl was in the stall listening. Paige slid to the floor of the stall and curled into a ball, unable to stop the tears._

"I picked up my razor and removed the blade from it and used it to open the cut from the night before back open. All I could think about was how good it had felt the day before, to feel something other than what Alison or the others around me were causing. I realized that day, from the floor in that shower stall, that cutting was a way for me to control my pain. I couldn't control everything else, but I could control this." Paige put pressure on Emily's hand, making sure she felt that particular scar. "I kept this once fresh for about five months. It was the first one, and one of the worst."

"And now?" Emily asked in worry, tears in her eyes.

"I haven't cut myself since junior year. After Alison moved away and I joined the swim team I kind of became popular. But then my father started becoming more involved in my swimming." Paige said.

"And what did you do then?" Emily asked, kind of scared of the answer.

"Turns out, when you are popular, alcohol is pretty easy to get ahold of. I would get black-out drunk almost every Friday during swim season." Paige said, moving to look down at her and Emily's entwined fingers. "I would stay at one of the swimmers houses and avoid my dad all weekend."

"Whoa." Emily let out.

"Yea. Then, you know, when I came out and mom left, he started avoiding me. So I threw all my anger and pain into swimming. And drinking. My swimming got really good, so good, that dad decided he would "help me out" and layed out his offer for after I graduated." Paige said as she pulled Emily closer to her.

"And then he started with the pills." Emily stated as she snuggled into Paige.

"I was slowing down. I guess I felt it, you know, my body slowing down. My panic attacks becoming worse and closer together. How I could sleep for hours and still be tired after I got up. How after I was finished fifty laps, I would get out of the pool and my chest would hurt so bad, that I felt as if I would colapse. So when he offered a "stimulator", as he called the steroids, I took them." Paige admitted.

"Why? If you knew you weren't healthy?" Emily asked.

"I had nothing to live for." Paige said point blank, making Emily physically flinch. "I feel, so much different about that now." Paige kissed Emily's forehead.

"I am so glad about that. I want you to live for a very long, and healthy time." Emily said.

A/N: I am starting to wrap this story up. I have an idea of how I want it to end, so I might just make it twenty chapters. But they might just be shorter chapters with some glances into the future. On the other hand, I so have the ball rolling with Awakening: Revelation ! Which a lot of you are following as well. Thanks for the love!


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